On Oct. 16, I had the pleasure of joining our UTMB family in celebrating the prestigious national honor our university received for superior quality and care provided to our patients—the 2017 Vizient Bernard Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Award.
Not only did we achieve our Best Care goal to be counted among the Top 20 U.S. academic health centers, we far exceeded it. Based on the final results of our Vizient survey, UTMB now ranks ninth among 107 participating organizations and has achieved 5-star performance. What an amazing accomplishment to move from a previous ranking of 76 to No. 9 in just one year.
In addition, UTMB has again achieved Magnet recognition for meeting the highest standards of nursing care and innovation. We owe these tremendous achievements to the hard work of each and every member of our UTMB community.
You can learn more about UTMB receiving the distinguished Magnet status in this latest issue of Impact, as well as how our Best Care efforts will continue in the coming months, focusing on ensuring value in patient care.
Other stories in this issue include:
- A day in the life of Heather Fields, a breast imaging technologist at UTMB’s Angleton Danbury Campus
- A profile of Rev. José Cedillo, our director of Pastoral Care
- A closer look at a UTMB Oliver Center program that provides recording devices to cancer patients so they can listen and recall their doctor visits
- A research project led by UTMB and Houston Methodist Research Institute, which sent lung cells to the International Space Station and could lead to new lung therapeutics for astronauts, as well as people back home on Earth
- An innovative course for School of Medicine students that teaches a new approach to diagnosing heart disease
- An introduction to UTMB’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) and how it will enhance student learning
- An overview of this year’s President Cabinet Award recipients and their innovative projects that promote outreach, education and improved patient care in the community
- Tips for preventing sports injuries by Dr. Jeremy Somerson, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery
- Numerous accomplishments and kudos in the Working Wonders column and throughout the newsletter
I hope you enjoy this issue. If you have story suggestions for future editions, please let the Impact team know. Thank you!
Dr. David L. Callender
UTMB President