Graduates of UTMB’s School of Health Professions sing “The Eyes of Texas” at the end of this year’s commencement on August 11 at Moody Gardens in Galveston. Three hundred eighty-one graduates received their degrees.

Welcome to the newest issue of Impact, a special edition dedicated to highlighting some of the significant contributions of our UTMB family during Hurricane Harvey.

This edition of Working Wonders honors all UTMB employees statewide who stepped up before, during and after Hurricane Harvey to serve the needs of our patients, families, colleagues and communities.

“The University of Texas stops for no storm.” Today, those words ring true once again as UTMB’s students and employees deal with the effects of yet another Gulf of Mexico hurricane.

When a Black Hawk helicopter carrying 500 pounds of blood products landed in the parking lot at UTMB’s Galveston Campus on Aug. 29, a wave of relief came over Dr. Barbara Bryant.

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.

There are endless accounts of employees, students and volunteers going above and beyond, even when faced with the effects of flooding that experts are saying is a 1-in-1,000-year event. Here are just a few of the many examples that show #WeAreUTMB.

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.

In the days leading up to Hurricane Harvey’s landfall, Pam Buttaccio began watching the weather channel a little more closely than normal. On Aug. 23, Harvey had regenerated into a tropical depression about 535 miles southeast of Port O’Connor, Texas with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. By Thursday, Harvey had strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane with winds as high as 100 mph.

Just over a year after the Ramsey Prison Cluster in Rosharon was evacuated due to flooding of the Brazos River, Hurricane Harvey lingered over the region, dumping record rainfall on the area again. Once more, UTMB Correctional Managed Care employees rose to the occasion.

The start of the 2017-2018 academic year was a memorable one for UTMB students and faculty. Just days after welcoming new students from all schools to campus at fall orientation, leaders in UTMB’s Academic Enterprise had the safety of students, faculty and staff in mind when they decided to cancel classes as Hurricane Harvey closed in on the Texas gulf coast.

As a major health care provider that residents of Southeast Texas depend on for primary and specialty care, UTMB works hard to safely maintain clinical operations during any adverse event. Hurricane Harvey was no exception.

After 30 years in the Navy, Glen Baker has his own set of experiences riding out hurricanes all across the country, but Hurricane Harvey was his first time as a hospital facilities manager.

There are a variety of local, regional and federal programs and services to assist our faculty, staff and students through each phase of the disaster recovery process.

Self-care is critical to coping in the aftermath and recovery of a disaster. Even with the (short) notice of an impending hurricane versus other natural disasters, the storm impacts are often unexpected, sudden and overwhelming. Knowing the common reactions and responses, how to cope and how to support each other can help us on a path to recovery.

UT System Chancellor William McRaven stops to say ‘hello’ to one of UTMB’s smallest patients in the NICU on the Galveston Campus. He toured the campus on Sept. 1, met with the UTMB Incident Command team and stopped to personally thank many of the employees who worked tirelessly throughout Hurricane Harvey.

When Hurricane Harvey barreled across the Texas coast late in August 2017, it unleashed unprecedented flooding. As the floodwaters rose, victims, rescuers, family and friends took to social media to share their stories. Among those stories are some remarkable and inspiring accounts about the people of UTMB. A few have been gathered for your perusal.

Can you believe we are nearing the end of another fiscal year? It sure has been an eventful one!

UTMB employees Sarah Burnett, Brenda Lundy and Betty Shipp received President’s Way to Go Awards at the July Town Hall meeting. Burnett, a medical lab specialist with Blood Bank Transfusion Operations, was recognized for a “long list” of accomplishments, including initiating several innovative projects to improve patient care and ensure blood products are used safely and efficiently, and for her volunteer work in the community.

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.