Eleven University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston faculty and staff and five medical students earned President’s Cabinet awards, worth more than $220,000. The seven winning programs include a partnership to hire military veterans into UTMB’s clinical workforce, a project that provides dental services for the indigent, uninsured and underinsured at St. Vincent’s Clinic and free heart screenings for high school and college student athletes.
The 2014 awards were given to:
Odette Comeau and Jamie Heffernan
“Engagement of the Community in Burn Education”
This project will develop and distribute booklets about burn prevention and treatment. The booklets will be given to UTMB patients and surrounding communities. The American Burn Association reports there are 4,000 deaths and 600,000 injuries attributed to fire and burns each year in the United States.
Cintia Roman and Tamer Dafashy
“Cardiac Anomaly Screening for Athletes”
This program will provide free heart screenings two Saturdays in October at St. Vincent’s Clinic in Galveston for young Galveston County athletes. UTMB students, working closely with cardiologists, will use a mobile echo machine to examine and screen the high school students. Galveston College and Texas A&M University at Galveston athletes will be included in the program’s second year. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that more than 2,000 people under 25 die annually from sudden cardiac arrest.
Amy Barrera-Kovach and Michelle Sierpina
“Burn Survivors’ Journeys: Real Stories of Challenges, Strength and Triumph”
Burn survivors and members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute writing group will join forces to produce a collection of 20 to 25 short stories outlining the recovery process to provide hope and inspiration to other survivors. The collected works will be given to patients in UTMB’s Truman G. Blocker Burn Unit.
Tammy Cupit and Dora Kuntz
“An Evidence-Based, Nurse-Led Family Life and Sexual Health Education Intervention for Fifth-Graders in Galveston County”
UTMB nurse clinicians and nursing students will teach sexual health education classes to groups of fifth grade students who have parental consent to participate in the program, which includes sections on family, self-esteem, gender roles, pregnancy and puberty.
Tyler Bliss, Tracy Cable, Taylor Surles, Jacqueline Posada, William Glenn, Roger Throndson and Victor Sierpina
“Providing Dental Services at St. Vincent’s Student-Run Clinic”
Research indicates that indigent, uninsured and underinsured people in Galveston County lack dental care options. This program will provide non-urgent basic dental services that include tooth extraction and treatment of gum and mouth infections at St. Vincent’s Clinic.
Mara Wilson and Mark Kirschbaum
“Patient-Driven Self-Management Data in the EMR: Blood Glucose Capture”
Diabetic patients participating in this program will be able to send their blood glucose level information electronically to UTMB’s Stark Diabetes Center. The patients then can receive care suggestions either through UTMB’s MyChart or by phone, saving the patients a trip to the clinic.
Ruth Ann Marr and UTMB Health Care Systems Staffing Leadership
“Be a Hero — Hire a Hero: A Collaboration for Transitioning Veterans into the UTMB Clinical Workforce”
This partnership between the “Be a Hero — Hire a Hero” organization and UTMB will promote the recruitment of military personnel before they are discharged for clinical and continuing education opportunities in UTMB’s School of Nursing. In addition to funding on-site seminars and promoting the program at military bases across the country, the President’s Cabinet award will help support the transition from military to civilian housing for qualified veterans.
The President’s Cabinet provides financial resources that advance the mission of UTMB, home of the state’s oldest schools of medicine, nursing and health professions. The cabinet’s members — numbering more than 400 — include university friends, community and business leaders from the Houston-Galveston area and UTMB faculty. staff and alumni from across the state and nation. Through their gifts to the university, President’s Cabinet awards provide seed money to launch initiatives designed to improve the quality of life in the community and beyond.
Annual contributions from President’s Cabinet members — $500 for junior members (age 40 and under), at least $1,000 for individuals and $5,000 for corporations, foundations and other organizations — are pooled to create the awards. President’s Cabinet members have contributed more than $5 million since 1993, with more than 100 awards given to innovative community programs.
For more information about the President’s Cabinet or how to join, contact Marie Marczak, UTMB director of annual giving, at 409-772-5151 or mmarczak@utmb.edu, or visit the organization’s website at www.utmb.edu/cabinet.