UTMB Newsroom

 

Jennifer Ramirez-Hernandez was born at 8:46 a.m. at John Sealy Hospital on Oct. 13, becoming the first baby born since Hurricane Ike slammed into Galveston.  Her parents, Florencio and Maria Hernandez, live in Texas City.  It was exactly one month since the hurricane hit.   The nursing staff for the special maternity unit came together to buy a onesie for Baby Jennifer with a burnt orange Texas Longhorn logo on the front and “BOI” on the back.  The staff also has prepared certificates to note that Jennifer and other babies are among the first born on Galveston after Ike.   Jennifer’s certificate is below. While UTMB remains officially closed, the 16-bed maternity unit opened today to care for high-risk pregnancies.

Hospital Galveston to reopen some beds in mid-November

GALVESTON, Texas - All 86 medical units of the state prison system are fully operational, including a Texas City clinic damaged by Hurricane Ike, according to officials at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston who manage the state’s correctional health services.

Hospital Galveston, which provides inpatient care and specialty services for critically ill offenders, received some flood damage in the storm but will reopen 32 beds in November, said John Allen, interim vice president and chief operating officer for UTMB correctional care.  (more) (more…)

 GALVESTON, Texas - Lisa D. Cain, an associate professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, recently was selected to be a fellow of the African Scientific Institute.

The ASI, founded in 1967, includes more than 280 members from 18 countries who have contributed significantly to science and technology. Members include world-renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson, physicist and designer of lunar surface ultraviolet cameras, George Carruthers, and Carlton Truesdale, an engineer who is widely recognized for his research in optical couplers, multimode fibers and waveguide processing.

Cain, an associate member of the UTMB Institute for the Medical Humanities and director of medical school enrichment programs, attended her first mixer as an ASI fellow on Oct. 9 in Washington, D.C.

 Houston Business Journal, Oct. 11, 2008

This article is about UTMB receiving a five-year, $10.9 million contract from NIH to establish the Clinical Proteomics Center for Infectious Diseases and Biodefense.

Researchers at the center will analyze human blood and other tissue samples from completed or ongoing clinical studies with the aim of discovering proteins that could serve as biomarkers of infectious disease. Identifying new biomarkers that are present in infected people will help researchers understand how microbes cause disease, which could guide development of diagnostics, therapies or vaccines. “We are very excited about this opportunity to build on our extensive proteomics expertise and translate these technologies to better diagnose and manage infectious diseases,” said Dr. Allan Brasier, the center’s principal investigator. The article has been picked up by several news outlets across the country, including the San Francisco Business Times, the Philadelphia Business Journal and the Condé Nast Portfolio.

The Houston Chronicle, Oct. 11, 2008 

 This editorial in the Houston Chronicle, in a discussion about the future about UTMB, says that any suggestion of moving UTMB elsewhere should be squelched and that the state of Texas and the UT Board of Regents should carefully weigh how UTMB will look as it emerges from the storm. Making a case that UTMB should stay in Galveston, the editorial states: “UTMB is critical to Galveston and the Southeast Texas coast. Its $1.4 billion budget and stature as the region’s seventh largest employer testify to its economic importance. Its medical, nursing and allied health sciences schools, along with its graduate school of biomedical sciences, serve more than 2,400 students, and it operates one of only two national biocontainment laboratories. Its researchers reported $156 million in research expenditures in 2007.”  The editorial acknowledges that some people will lose their jobs at UTMB as the institution is reconfigured but also says:  “We hope the layoffs and other changes can be crafted in such a way that UTMB emerges healthy, if smaller, and positioned to survive.”

Texas City couple are proud parents

GALVESTON, Texas - The first baby born on Galveston Island since Hurricane Ike hit on Sept. 13 was delivered today at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

The first BOI (Born on the Island) is Jennifer Ramirez-Hernandez, who was born at 8:46 a.m. at John Sealy Hospital at UTMB.   Maria Hernandez, the baby’s mother, and Florencio Hernandez, the father, are from Texas City. (more) (more…)

 GALVESTON, Texas - The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a five-year, $10.9 million contract to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to establish the Clinical Proteomics Center for Infectious Diseases and Biodefense. Researchers at the center will analyze human blood and other tissue samples from completed or ongoing clinical studies with the aim of discovering proteins that could serve as biomarkers of infectious disease.  (more) (more…)

 There are numerous news articles and reports about the future of UTMB in the wake of Hurricane Ike.   Click here to read the various reports.

In the Austin American-Statesman, Dr. Kenneth Shine, interim chancellor of the UT System, says that there will be significant layoffs at UTMB. “We recognize there have to be significant reductions in force on the island. It’s a very challenging situation.” One reason reductions are necessary, he said, is that the 500-bed hospital at the campus is expected to resume operations as a 200-bed hospital and that the patient load already had declined following Hurricane Rita in 2005, and it’s not clear what the island’s population - and demand for health care - will be after Ike.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/09/1009utmb.html

The article was distributed by The Associated Press and has been posted by news outlets all over the state, including KRIS -TV in Corpus Christi http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9150133&nav=Bsmh

  

The Houston Chronicle reports that key state lawmakers are determined to devise a plan to prevent large numbers of layoffs at UTMB. The article quotes State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, as saying that they will try to find money to prevent layoffs at UTMB. “We recognize that this is a human and a financial catastrophe, and there is going to be a need for the state to pitch in. The issue is when and how much,” Ogden said. And Chisum said, “Ogden and I are on the same track, and we don’t want to release 4,000 employees.”

The Chronicle article also mentions that UTMB planned to open a pediatric urgent care center today and will begin delivering babies next week.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6048134.html

The Galveston County Daily News article focuses on Ogden and reports that he was the lawmaker who stopped a plan to lay off 4,000 UTMB employees. “It seems unfair to tell people on pretty short notice that in addition to all the losses they suffered, by the way, you lost your job. The good news in all this is the state of Texas is in pretty good financial shape, so it’s not impossible for us to assist,” Ogden said, who also cautions that many political and financial hurdles have to be overcome.

http://galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=f8888784c74b1ff4

 UTMB’s Dr. Wayne Snodgrass is quoted in the Washington Post in an article about the makers of cough and cold medications, after negotiating with the FDA, agreeing to voluntarily warn parents not to give their products to children younger than 4. Snodgrass applauded the new warnings but said they do not go far enough. The products “should not be available over-the-counter at least up to age 12,” Snodgrass said.

 The Town Hall meeting and news conference conducted Tuesday by Dr. David Callender and Dr. Kenneth Shine received extensive coverage in numerous news outlets. A few included interviews with elected officials who attended the events at Levin Hall. (Click here to see the various reports) (more…)