“Elise has one of the most challenging and emotionally draining roles in this hospital that she performs every day with grace.” These words capture the essential work of Elise Bartoul, MA, LPC, LPAT, ATR-BC, who serves as a licensed art therapist and counselor on the Pediatric Palliative Care team at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. Through a unique mix of creative expression and therapeutic intervention, she supports patients, families, and healthcare staff through some of the most challenging moments in pediatric medicine, including end-of-life care and bereavement.

Elise’s deep understanding of compassionate care stems from her own medical journey. At 15, an everyday infection triggered a serious autoimmune disease that led to end-stage organ failure. She spent over a year hospitalized, undergoing chemotherapy, surgical interventions, and ultimately receiving a life-saving organ transplant.

“It was through my own lived experience, much like [Schwartz Center] founder Ken Schwartz, that I realized what compassionate care was,” she reflects. This experience taught her that “compassionate care is wrap-around, multidisciplinary care that highlights not only your body’s physical well-being and healing but also your mental and emotional, psychosocial and spiritual well-being and healing.”

Elise’s role spans every major area of the hospital, from prenatal care and labor and delivery to intensive care units, cardiac units, and transplant floors. She works with patients ranging from prenatal to young adulthood, as well as with siblings and parents.

Her approach offers what she describes as “uncensored interactions that don’t include white coats or needle pokes,” using art within a therapeutic framework to help patients and families navigate their hospital experiences.

In one challenging situation, Elise was asked to lead a family conference with an autistic adolescent oncology patient to communicate that no more cancer-directed therapies were available. “Elise stepped up and did what nobody else [could] do and was an incredible advocate for this patient and his right to know what was going on with his own body,” said a colleague. Her ability to provide developmentally appropriate responses while maintaining the patient’s dignity exemplifies her commitment to prioritizing patients as people first.

Beyond direct patient care, Elise has systematically addressed the emotional needs of her fellow healthcare workers through bi-monthly patient memorial services, self-care sessions, and team debriefings. “Elise has an innate ability to sense emotional distress, and she can often be found on the nursing units providing support to caregivers,” said a colleague.

Elise emphasizes that “compassionate care is intentionally and purposefully provided. The way we show up for our patients and families matters, the language and communication skills we employ matters, and the level of effective empathy we provide matters.” She embodies this philosophy through her art therapy practice, which creates space for patients and families to express what words alone cannot capture, helping them navigate grief, find meaning, and maintain dignity, compassion, and hope.

“Compassionate care is simple: it is doing the right thing in the moment. What you do doesn’t have to be big: it can be an arm around the shoulder of a sad or stressed coworker, a cup of orange juice for a parent, a beanie baby for a child in an ICU bed,” says Mark Brown. He is a recently retired extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) specialist from the respiratory department at Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, where he dedicated the past 36 years to caring for critically ill children and their families. As an expert in ECMO, a form of lifesaving cardiopulmonary bypass, Mark combined technical mastery with a deeply humanistic approach to patient care.

One night while working in the ICU, Mark brought a bed into a patient room so that parents of a dying toddler could lie down with their daughter in her final moments — the first time anyone at his hospital had done so. That single act became standard practice, transforming how the hospital honors families in their most devastating moments. His deep empathy for patients and their families is rooted in his own experience of loss; his third child was born with a genetic disorder and died at one year old. This personal tragedy informed his unwavering commitment to helping families honor their dying children with dignity.

In a field where mortality rates can reach 50%, Mark understands the immeasurable difference that compassion can have on everyone involved. He advocated to ensure that parents can hold their children before they die, recognizing that those final moments are not merely medical events but sacred ones. He mentored colleagues to see grieving parents not as obstacles to clinical care but as essential members of the care team. One patient’s family member wrote to Mark, “You and the team were outstanding at your jobs, and you went over and above to make it the most memorable goodbye one could ask for… You became a special person to me, to our family, because of your nurturing way with our little girl.”

Colleagues describe Mark as a “guardian angel” at the bedside, disguised as a technician. He has served as a mentor and beacon of support for countless staff members, teaching them that technical mastery and compassion are not competing demands but complementary ones. “In the relentlessly demanding world of critical illness, where decisions must be made with focus, precision, and urgency, Mark never loses sight of the people he is fighting for,” said a colleague.

Now recently retired, Mark’s legacy is visible in the practices he initiated, the staff he influenced, and the families whose most unbearable moments were transformed by his presence. He demonstrates that in healthcare’s most demanding moments, the heart and the mind, the technician and the caregiver, can work in harmony to transform the experience of suffering families.

“It brings me great joy to say that I have my dream job,” Dr. Gioconda Mojica says, describing her dual role as a corneal transplant surgeon and educator. She is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School and assistant chief of ophthalmology at Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital. Her approach to patient care is deeply rooted in presence and human connection. “To me, compassionate care means creating space for patients to feel seen and valued—especially in moments when they feel invisible and lost,” she explains.

This philosophy was powerfully illustrated when a patient with advanced gynecologic cancer told her, “Thank you for making me feel like you care about me as a person,” noting that Dr. Mojica was the first doctor to ask about her life story. The encounter ended with an emotional embrace, demonstrating Dr. Mojica’s belief that “patients understand that we can’t always cure them—but they want to know that we care.”

As a Nicaraguan immigrant who grew up below the poverty line in Houston, Dr. Mojica brings a unique perspective and deep empathy to her role serving patients—many who are Spanish-speaking and underserved—in one of two safety-net hospitals operated by Harris Health that serves the residents of Houston and Harris County. Many of her patients have delayed seeking care due to financial, legal or language barriers. Dr. Mojica serves as a bridge – not only translating medical terms, but also by helping her patients feel understood, safe, and seen.

Beyond clinical care, Dr. Mojica has developed groundbreaking educational initiatives focused on building resilience in healthcare learners. She created an interprofessional elective on shame resilience through self-compassion for students from medicine, nursing, and dentistry programs. “I believe compassion is a skill,” she says. “One that can be taught, practiced and sustained, even in the most demanding healthcare environments.”

Dr. Mojica’s commitment to teaching compassion extends to her mentoring of medical students and residents. One student wrote: “Dr. Mojica is the best attending I have worked with. She is genuinely interested in not only teaching us but our future success and careers… She truly cares about people no matter who they are and that’s very telling of her character.”

Her leadership at LBJ Hospital has resulted in significant improvements in both staff and patient satisfaction, with one patient describing her as “the person who gave me back my life, my light, and my dignity.” Dr. Mojica’s work exemplifies how personal experience, cultural competency, and genuine compassion can transform healthcare delivery for underserved communities while nurturing the next generation of healthcare providers.

Through her clinical work, educational innovations, and mentorship, Dr. Mojica embodies the principle that “compassionate care must begin with how we treat ourselves and each other… it is not a soft skill – it’s a healing force.”