Every morning between 8 and 9 a.m., groups of interdisciplinary teams meet at all inpatient units in Galveston, League City and Angleton Danbury to discuss each and every patient in the hospital. They’re called “Progression of Care Rounds,” or POCR (pronounced “poker”) rounds, and for the past year, they have been making a difference in both patient outcomes and length of stay.

UTMB recently announced that the Health System has received an “A” grade from the Leapfrog Group for its accomplishments in reducing errors, infections and accidents that have the potential to harm patients.

Whether it’s sniffles, aches and pains or bumps and bruises, UTMB Health’s Urgent Care clinics are open evenings and weekends to bring you relief. Located near you and staffed by UTMB physicians and medical professionals, these sites provide quality care and prompt attention for injuries and illnesses that are not life threatening.

Three of the scariest words in the English language are, “You have cancer.” “You don’t hear anything after that,” said Dr. Avi Markowitz, chief of hematology and oncology at UTMB. But thanks to a UTMB program called Taking the Message and the Medicine Home, the university is improving communication between patients, families and care providers.

When Deb McGrew first heard that hospitals in the northern part of Galveston County were not taking patients, and possibly even closing during Hurricane Harvey, she knew something needed to be done.

On a late August morning as Tropical Storm Harvey moved north of the Galveston County area, anyone would have excused Latasha Vernon if she was a bit cranky. She had been in her hospital room in John Sealy Hospital for a week.

Keeping patients safe is the No. 1 priority for nursing staff in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at UTMB’s Jennie Sealy Hospital in Galveston. For the past two years, they have been working to reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs), which patients can get while receiving medical treatment in the hospital.

Five minutes after landing in Nepal in 2015, Dr. Harold Pine and his UTMB medical mission team experienced a catastrophic earthquake that devastated the region. Their carefully planned three-week trek to hold ear, nose and throat clinics in remote villages was turned upside down. Since then, Pine, a pediatric otolaryngologist, vowed to return to the region to finish what his team started.

Crowding in the emergency room and long wait times seem to be the “norm” at hospitals across the country. But Christine Wade and her colleagues in UTMB’s Emergency Department on the Galveston Campus are working hard to change that perception.

When young patients stay at UTMB Children’s Hospital, important milestones such as birthdays, last days of chemotherapy and even high school graduations don’t go uncelebrated.

For many months, UTMB’s Chief Medical and Clinical Innovation Officer Dr. Gulshan Sharma has been living and breathing UTMB’s No. 1 priority goal—the Best Care initiative, which challenges UTMB to achieve a top 20 ranking among academic medical centers by 2018.

Stacey Robinson became a nurse not only because she is an adrenaline junkie, but also because she wants to make a difference.

Getting a knee or hip replaced is a major surgery requiring weeks—sometimes months—of recovery. As you can imagine, most patients have numerous questions and concerns for their health care team leading up to the operation.

Dr. Shannon Clarks' entire career revolves around bringing new life into the world. So when the high-risk obstetrician found out she may not be able to conceive children of her own at the age of 40, it was tough news to swallow.

Mobility is a critical piece of patient recovery. Research shows the earlier a patient gets out of bed and starts moving, the better health outcomes they will experience. However, getting patients mobilized can pose a risk to health care personnel—lifting is dangerous and can lead to employee injuries. A recent collaboration between UTMB Human Resources and Nursing Service is helping to solve that dilemma.

Lisa Rogers says there’s little doubt in her mind that lung cancer screening saved her life. The 62-year-old Rosharon resident continually battled pneumonia and was in and out of the hospital several times over the past two years. But in February, while in the Angleton Danbury Campus Hospital with complications from pneumonia yet again, Rogers met Dr. Ikenna Okereke, chief of Thoracic Surgery.

The Women's HealthCare Clinic in Friendswood and Angleton Urgent Care Clinic are now open!

In less than a year, UTMB’s ambulatory clinics have gotten to the heart of a big health issue: hypertension. It’s often symptomless, but can be a dangerous disease—leading to stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney disease.

The Southeast Texas Poison Center at UTMB is a bustling place. The center receives about 120 calls each day about poisonings and toxic exposures from the public and medical health professionals.

More than 110 patients were safely relocated on Jan. 4 after a fire broke out in a non-patient care area of John Sealy Hospital in Galveston. While the fire was contained to a small area, the smoke was not—requiring full evacuation of both John Sealy Hospital and John Sealy Annex. Hundreds of UTMB employees from all areas of the institution immediately jumped into action, putting their emergency training to use to ensure the safety and well-being of patients, visitors and colleagues.