ConocoPhillips pledges $250,000 to UTMB burn unit expansion

ConocoPhillips has pledged a multi-year, $250,000 contribution to support the expansion of the Truman G. Blocker Burn Unit at UTMB. The contribution supports a planned $6 million expansion for the burn unit that will increase the number of specialized patient beds available to eight from four. More than $5.2 million has been raised to date as part of a $10 million endeavor to augment UTMB’s burn care treatment and translational research, support related educational training programs for nurses - including nurse recruitment and retention - and enhance the comfort of patients’ families who spend extended periods of time in the unit. The Sealy & Smith Foundation is matching all contributions to the expansion project. Read more...

UTMB orthopedic surgeons restore limbs, lives in Guatemala

Until recently, 2-year-old Maria and 14-year-old Paola struggled each day with limb deformities that made it difficult for them to walk or play with other children. Now, after six weeks of recovery, these two children will be essentially normal, their lives changed overnight by the volunteered surgical skills of UTMB orthopedic surgeons Kelly Carmichael and James Bynum. The two physicians returned this week from Jutiapa, Guatemala, where they participated in an Operation Rainbow medical mission focused on providing orthopedic care for children and young adults in Central and South America. Read more...

APA recognizes Dr. Karen Wagner with Ittleson award

The American Psychiatric Association has recognized Dr. Karen Dineen Wagner, Marie B. Gale Centennial Professor of Psychiatry and vice chairwoman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, with its prestigious Blanche F. Ittleson Award for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for 2007. Read more...

UTMB nurse reigns as ‘Mr. January’

In a profession traditionally dominated by women, one man is receiving some extra attention for being a nurse: He is Mr. January in a calendar that features male nurses. The 2008 “Men in Nursing” calendar, published by the bimonthly journal Men in Nursing, features nurses from across the nation, as well as the history of male nursing, and Bill Benyi, a nursein the Infant Special Care Unit for 23 years, is honored to be Mr. January. “It’s been fun,” said Benyi. “I’ve received some good-natured ribbing.” Read more...

Acts of kindness put the ‘care’ in patient care

One of the tenets of care at UTMB is compassion for patients and their families, and nowhere is that more evident than in the countless stories of UTMB Hospitals and Clinics staff going the extra mile to make a patient feel special. Read two stories of how UTMB clinical staff made a little extra effort for two special patients.

Outstanding GSBS teachers honored

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences has announced the 2007 Faculty Teaching Award winners and appointees to two faculty endowments established to honor excellence in teaching in the Graduate School.  Each of the ten graduate program student organizations selected a faculty nominee to be recognized at the recent Faculty Awards reception at the Rosenberg House. The Deans Council in the Graduate School recognized the importance of honoring outstanding teachers in the Graduate School. “While other faculty activities could be quantified, we looked for new ways of honoring teaching and the commitment of the faculty,” said Dr. Cary W. Cooper, Lawrence E. Ethridge, Jr. Professor and Dean of the Graduate School. Read more…

Teachers of Distinction celebrated at annual event

The Teachers of Distinction Awards are celebrated annually in recognition of excellence in community-based medical education.  It is sponsored by the Office of Regional Medical Education (ORME), of the UTMB School of Medicine and the East Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Eight community physicians, from a pool of more than 350 active preceptors, were selected for the 2007 Teachers of Distinction (Top Doc) Award. The Top Doc Committee selects final award recipients after nominations are received from course directors and AHEC representatives based on exemplary student evaluations, time and commitment to community-based education, quality of the educational environment and participation in faculty development and community service activities. Read more…

Staff council initiated at UTMB

Read Dr. David L. Callender’s message to the UTMB community about the initiation of an Employee Advisory Council, a new organization sponsored and supported by the Office of the President. The EAC represents Classified and Administrative & Professional employees, and its primary objectives include enhancing communication and promoting a positive and collaborative work environment.

Fall 2007 President’s Cabinet Awards recipients honored

During a reception at Levin Hall, several UTMB faculty, staff members and students received President’s Cabinet Awards to fund programs that will benefit the greater Galveston area. The UTMB President’s Cabinet is an organization dedicated to helping advance UTMB’s mission. Membership is composed of alumni, faculty, staff, university friends and community and business leaders. Annual contributions from President’s Cabinet members—at least $1,000 for individuals and $5,000 for corporations, foundations and other organizations—fund the award-winning programs. Since its inception in 1993, the President’s Cabinet has granted more than $3.4 million in awards to a variety of programs that advance and enhance UTMB’s historic mission and enrich the lives in the communities UTMB serves. Read about the 2007 award recipients here.

High-tech surgery uses precise photon beams, no scalpels

UTMB is now one of only three medical centers in the state offering its patients a new specialized form of concentrated radiation therapy using high-energy photon beams to destroy tumor cells with surgical precision, but without a surgical scalpel. Developed in Germany, the Novalis shaped-beam radiosurgery device delivers precision radiation therapy that conforms to the shape of a tumor with millimeter accuracy, irradiating the entire tumor while protecting surrounding healthy tissue. The shaped beams of high-energy radiation deliver a precise treatment designed to shrink or control the growth of a tumor by killing cancer cells or interfering with their ability to grow. Read more…

UTMB Access Center offers 24/7 connection to care

You knew it originally as the “Health Care Hotline” and you may have heard it referred to as the “Call Center.” The new, improved version— the UTMB Access Center—is now available as the 24/7 connection to health care. Read more…

Morrison associate receives national service award

For Steven King, a retail associate with Morrison Food Services, it was just another day on his job, fulfilling the requests of customers at Café on the Court. But for one woman and her daughter, it meant enough to drop a letter to King’s supervisors, who in turn nominated him for a national service award for Morrison employees. Read more…

National benchmarking program helping to streamline surgical processes at UTMB

Since May 2005, UTMB has participated in a national benchmarking program to help streamline and improve processes in the Department of Surgery.  The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), administered by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), was instituted in General and Vascular Surgery.  NSQIP allows surgeons and hospitals to effectively measure, report, analyze and respond to surgical care data to improve the standard of care for all surgical patients. Dr. Courtney M. Townsend, the John Woods Harris Distinguished Chair in Surgery, was instrumental to UTMB’s early involvement in the program. Under his guidance UTMB embraced NSQIP as an effort that could potentially streamline its surgical care reporting efforts and lead to enhanced surgical care. Read more…

EMR reaches another major milestone with ClinDoc launch

After a mammoth effort by the Information Services Training Department to prepare all UTMB physicians, residents, nurse providers, physician assistants and faculty for the implementation of the new ClinDoc component of the Epic Electronic Medical Records system, the critical component is now operational. Clinical staff in the inpatient areas of the hospital began documenting in the system on Dec. 4. Read more…