Archive for April, 2007

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Earth Day celebration on the plaza

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

I hope you can make part of the Earth Day event planned for Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Moody Medical Library Plaza. If you’ve been, you know what a neat event it is and will likely not miss it. It you haven’t been, it’s a chance to get out, hopefully enjoy some of the same great weather we had today, grab a quick free bite to eat, and learn a bunch of stuff about great initiatives in place at UTMB and in the community. You can pick up a free tree or herb, troll for goodies at the swap shop, laugh and be amazed during the recycle style show and art contest, enjoy the kids running around and listen to a live band. There’s a great looking shirt this year, with a winning design drawn and colored by an employee’s daughter. 

I’ve had a theme this week about people working hard behind the scenes. Few good things ever “just happen.”  This is one of those events that takes an army of volunteers to pull off, led and coordinated by folks like Ken Steblein, Diana Davison, Gene Curry, Richard Holmes, John Lahair, Jay Lefebrvre, Susan Milligan, Curtis Sanchez, Roger Stone, Lewis Cantrell, Donna Batson, Carl Dolezal, Heidi Lutz, Bob Scott, Enzo Garetto, Shirley Hilton, Todd Perry, Giselle Torres and many others. Planning on Friday’s event started this past January. All we have to do is show up and enjoy.

Why does it matter? Consider this single tidbit culled from the signature line of one of the individuals named above: In FY 2006, UTMB recycled more than 800 tons of paper and cardboard, and in the process “saved” 13,685 trees. At a time when we all feel the sting from rising fuel and energy costs and hear so much about global warming, think of the impact of the forest of trees we left in the ground. I’ll see you there…      

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Hope you have something special planned…

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007

Today is Administrative Professionals Day, formerly known as Secretary’s Day, usually observed on the third or fourth Wednesday of April to recognize the hard and important work of administrative assistants, receptionists, paralegals, and other office workers. It is celebrated as part of a larger Administrative Professionals Week, which takes place during the last full week of April. National Professional Secretaries Week and National Secretaries’ Day dates to 1952. 

We usually mark it in the  U.S. with flowers, candy, small gifts, or a lunch out; in our office we hosted a small breakfast. (I’m writing this post from our front desk where I’m covering phones while they finish up.) I think a great way to celebrate it would be with a holiday for them; then we’d really appreciate what it’s like to try and do our jobs without their support. To all of you, I hope you have a great and special day. To the folks that help keep me personally out of trouble, I value and appreciate you immensely, every day.    

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Lab professionals deliver results

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

It’s National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week. I mentioned FOAM’s bird patrol in an earlier post about unsung heroes working behind the scenes. The men and women working in our clinical labs might fit in the same category. Where would we be without the laboratory pros that generate the medical information that’s so pivotal to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease? At UTMB, we have about 300 faculty and staff working in 14 clinical laboratories. Annually, they perform about 4 million lab tests, read 50,000 Pap smears, process 16,000 surgical specimens, collect more than 9,000 units of blood and issue more than 30,000 blood components for transfusion. Busy? You bet. Join me in thanking these hardworking colleagues as we celebrate the vital role they play in promoting health and keeping us well.

(Events on campus have been taking place this week, and two at Shriners are in today’s announcements…)

(Added May 26: The SAHS’s Jane Finley and Hank Thierry had a great guest column in the Daily News today that talks about the national shortage in many critical clinical lab positions. UTMB scores a daily double on this celebration: we employ great clinical lab staff, but we also do a great job training tomorrow’s CLS workforce.) 

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A hope and a prayer

Friday, April 20th, 2007

The UTMB Pastoral Care Department is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an open house and reception at 2 p.m. April 26. We’re all invited to join the festivities in the main hallway of John Sealy Hospital, near the chapel at the east entrance to John Sealy. Pastoral Care is a big and important part of the university community, and it’s hard to think there was a time not so long ago that they weren’t here. Come help mark their first decade on campus.

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So what did happen to the birds?

Friday, April 20th, 2007

Notice that the walks are cleaner and the swarms of birds that blackened our skies each evening are a little thinner? What miracle of man or nature makes this possible, you ask, as you make your way to work with nary a slip and no goo on your shoe?

It’s the Facilities team at work behind the scenes. Sure, remnants of mylar balloons are still in some trees, and maybe a few birds headed home to cooler climes—but the big impact we’re seeing is from some old-fashioned perseverance. For about three weeks, a small contingent of FOAM guys have been strategically locating themselves on rooftops, shooing away birds that land on parapet walls and ledges as they prepare to swoop down to the trees to roost for the night. The birds don’t like to land in trees they haven’t deemed to be free of predators, so eventually they get frustrated and find a better place to roost, away from our hospital entrances. 

If you’ve followed the bird saga you know we’ve looked at a lot of different solutions to get to this one that seems to be working, at least for the time being. But my point in sharing this tale is to remind myself and others that a lot of work takes place on our campus behind the scenes, done by hard working men and women doing all sorts of jobs that contribute to a positive, pleasant or comfortable work environment. I don’t want to take that for granted. Thanks, bird guys and everyone else working out of sight but not mind.    

Posted in In the news, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Gee, is it Friday already?

Friday, April 20th, 2007

This week has been a blur, which is why I’m behind a few days on my posts. This time of year always is fairly busy, and the announcement about Dr. David Callender ratcheted things up a few more notches. 

The overall campus vibe about the announcement seems to be positive. Most of the people I’ve spoken to at UTMB that had a chance to meet him (regular people, not just the top dogs) had good things to say. The word from colleagues that worked with him at MD  Anderson was upbeat and enthusiastic. More of us will likely have a chance to meet him a little later this year.       

The School of Nursing celebrates its commencement today. It’s a big day for our institution and for those 230 former students and their families. Congratulations to you all; I hope many of you will consider staying with the UTMB family as employees. We always need great nurses and we know we train ours well.

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Kudos on a job well done

Monday, April 16th, 2007

I’m not surprised when I read a letter—like the one below—about great care given at UTMB. I’m glad we have great people who truly are gifted, who do a great job for our community, who literally save lives every day. But when I hear a casual acquaintance in the community gushing about a great experience, about the quality, compassion, service, friendliness, helpfulness and competence they experienced, that really makes me happy and proud. Such was the case this weekend, when I ran into someone at a kid’s birthday party who was a patient at our cancer center and had nothing but positive things to say. To our great clinicians, thanks for your hard work. People out there—and here, too—appreciate it.   

Doctors and Nurses Performed A Miracle Galveston County Daily News, April 16, 2007
In regard to the story, “UTMB, TLC plan conference on brain injuries” (The Daily News, April 12): I just wanted to give a tremendous thanks to the doctors and nurses at University of Texas Medical Branch for saving the life of my very good friend’s 15-year-old daughter on April 7. She was taken by Life Flight in for serious head trauma and needed a life-saving surgery. The doctors acted so fast that it seems she will recover just fine. They removed a hematoma off her brain the size of a fist. The doctors told us that 95 percent of people with that type of injury don’t survive, and if they do, it is usually not without disabilities. Well, they got her in and to me performed a miracle surgery. She was even released Tuesday just three days after almost losing her life. Now tell me those doctors weren’t sent from heaven. Again thanks so much for giving back this beautiful girl’s life. God bless you all at UTMB Trauma Unit.-Mary Gordon

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More news today on UTMB’s next president

Monday, April 16th, 2007

We’re expecting a news release from UT System this afternoon which we’ll prompty pass along to folks in a global email broadcast and a web posting. News is due today about the finalists/finalist for the post of president for UTMB. This morning’s newspaper had a brief about it, below. There’s been speculation (isn’t there always?) that there will be a single finalist named. I have no idea if that’s true.

Regents To Name UTMB Finalists Galveston County Daily News, April 16, 2007
The University of Texas System Board of Regents today will interview four candidates and name finalists for the position of president of the island’s medical branch. The candidates are vying to replace Dr. John Stobo, who said he would resign Aug. 31. The candidates include an island doctor and another who would be the first African-American to lead the institution. They are: Dr. David L. Callender, associate vice chancellor and chief executive officer of the University of California-Los Angeles Hospital System; Dr. Arthur L. Kellermann, professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta; Dr. David G. Nichols, vice dean for education at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore; Dr. Courtney M. Townsend Jr., professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Read more…

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“Professional approach to UT change”

Friday, April 13th, 2007

State Senator Kyle Janek in the Galveston County Daily News, April 12, 2007:

When, in October of last year, Dr. John Stobo announced that he would be leaving the presidency of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston this year, the UT System Board of Regents immediately recognized the urgency and importance of finding an outstanding president for our state’s oldest medical school. Within weeks, they openly outlined details of the search process, including proposed timelines and the selection of a distinguished presidential search advisory committee. The committee included eight faculty, student and staff representatives from UTMB and four additional representatives from the Galveston community. Read the rest…

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It’s all history

Friday, April 13th, 2007

Someone asked me via rumors how many presidents UTMB has had. We actually didn’t get out first “president ” until Truman Blocker in 1967. Before him, the Medical Branch leaders had other titles, often ”CEO.”  Blocker was followed by William C. Levin in 1974, Tom James in 1987, and John Stobo in 1997. You can see these and a few other highlights from a link to a UTMB historical timeline I’ve been meaning to share.

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