Hannigan's Heroes
August 3 marked the one year anniversary of the death of Dr. Edward Hannigan, a beloved UTMB oncology physician and faculty member. In his memory the staff on J5C formed a non-profit group called “Hannigan’s Heroes” to keep his legacy of compassion and generosity alive. The group hosts various fundraisers, such as t-shirt sales, to assist oncology patients with food, gas vouchers and transportation. Throughout the month of August employees are encouraged to wear their “Hannigan’s Heroes” t-shirts to honor the memory of Dr. Hannigan. T-shirts can be purchased on the oncology unit, J5C. For more information, call ext. 20040.
Advocacy Award
Dr. Tricia C. Elliott, directory of the UTMB Residency Program, was awarded the 2011 TAFPPAC advocacy award by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Political Action Committee at the organization’s 2011 Annual Session and Scientific Assembly in Dallas. TAFPPAC is the political arm of TAFP, and the award recognizes an outstanding member who shows great dedication to the advancement of the political voice of family medicine.
Elliott also serves UTMB’s Department of Family Medicine as an associate professor and as medical director of University Hospital Clinics. She previously served as the program director of the Baylor College of Medicine/Kelsey-Seybold Clinic Family Medicine Residency Program in Houston.
Nurses help Alabama tornado victims
The nursing staff on Unit 4A (SICU) decided to focus their community contributions recently on the Alabama victims of the recent tornado disaster. "We decided to ask for donations on the unit and collect non-perishable items," said Barbara Parish, a nurse on the unit. SICU collected over 200 items and donated them to the Baptist Ministries Association who was in route to Alabama.
Pediatric clinic nurse streamlines staffing resources
Cheryl Randle, nurse manager in the
Pediatric Specialty Center at Bay Colony, constructed a way to streamline staffing communication and efficiency. The pediatric clinis in the surrounding area have begun to tele-conference their daily afternoon staffing meetings and collaborate on staff needs. The following morning the clinics will contact each other if there is an absent position that needs to be filled for the day. The
clinics involved are The Specialty Care Clinic on the 7th floor of the University Hospital Clinics, Pediatric After Hours Urgent Care/Island Pediatrics West,South Shore Orthopaedics/Pediatric After Hours Urgent Care and Pediatric Specialty Center at Bay Colony. “The staff is getting adjusted to the various locations,” Cheryl said. “It works very well. We have in fact been able to remove the use of agencies and over-time from our budget next year.”
Transplant Society winner
Dr. Daria Zorzi, UTMB research, was announced as the winner of the annual Trinkle-Banowsky Abstract Competition at the Texas Transplantation Society's Annual Meeting at the AT&T Executive and Education Conference Center in Austin.
Dr. Luca Cicalese was the sponsor for Zorzi. The title of her winning abstract was "Safety Guidelines to Resume Transplant Acitivities after Major Natural Disaster."
The Texas Transplantation Society was founded in 1987 to facilitate transplantation within the state of Texas. The Texas Transplantation Society selects one winner among residents and fellows in the abstract competition.