UTMB President Dr. David L. Callender recently spent time with the skilled outpatient services associates and triage nurses at UTMB’s Access Center in his most recent In Your Shoes event.

“Observing the highly-trained staff in action at the UTMB Access Center gave me a great appreciation for the wide range of services they provide, as well as the high level of expertise required to perform their duties,” said Callender. “From scheduling appointments to performing phone-based triage, the Center’s highly-trained staff is dedicated 24/7 to serving our patient’s and customer’s needs.”

The center receives an average of 30,000 phone calls a month and handles everything from prescription refills to physician referrals.

"Dr. Callender sat with me and listened in using one of our training headsets while the patients called in,
said Karen Williams, outpatient service associate. "I was so impressed with his interest and concern about our work in the Access Center and I am sure our patients would be quite impressed that Dr. Callender took the time out of his busy schedule to have such a personal interest in the functioning process of UTMB. To that we say, Dr. Callender, thank you, thank you, thank you."

The center is also responsible for scheduling Maritime appointments and taking tele-radiology reads from cruise ships.  During Callender’s visit he was able to observe how a ship-to-shore request was handled.

“We received an x-ray image from Holland America Cruise lines and were able to show Dr. Callender how we facilitate the communication by pushing a Diacom image from the Access Center to UTMB radiology and back to the ship,” said Pam Kuchta, Tele-Radiology lead nurse. “It was an honor having him here to participate in the multitude of services that we provide. He seemed truly interested in our challenges and the tasks that we perform for our community.”