TMC Rincon Health Campus continues to grow

A key element to putting the patient first is providing care closer to home.

Seeing the need for access to health care services in rapidly expanding southeast Tucson, TMC Health — in partnership with physician investors — expanded its offerings at the Rincon Health Campus, 10350 E. Drexel Road, by opening the Rincon Ambulatory Surgery Center on Sept. 28. This is the first surgery center of its kind in the area.

The 17,000-square-foot facility houses four operating rooms and two procedure rooms with expansion capabilities for an additional two operating rooms in the future.

The next day, a progress celebration was held at TMC Health’s new 55-bed Tucson Medical Center Rincon which is slated to open in early 2024. The event included opening remarks by TMC Health CEO Judy Rich, TMC Health Director of Real Estate James Copley and JE Dunn Vice President Larry Hawthorne, followed by a ceremonious placement of a beam signed by all the attendees.

With the addition of the surgery center and the new facility, patients in the area will have easy access to surgery services, emergency care, ambulatory care, women’s care and cardiology, as well as radiology, urgent, primary and specialty care.

These two milestones illustrate TMC Health’s commitment to bringing health care closer to where our patients live and work.

Recognizing the importance of diversity, inclusion and equality for patients, family and staff, a group of employees worked with hospital leadership to form the TMC Pride Committee.

have demonstrated that they have key foundational policies in place for LGBTQ inclusion. These policies focus on patient nondiscrimination, equal visitation and employee non-discrimination.”

Southern Arizona’s fastest growing primary and specialty care practice continues to reside right here at TMC Health. From its humble beginnings as a solo practice acquired in the TMC purchase of El Dorado Hospital, TMCOne now has 20 clinics, two urgent cares and nearly 100 providers serving our community. In addition, an ever-expanding group of primary and specialty care providers make TMCOne the preferred care partner in Tucson and Southern Arizona.

In 2022, TMCOne expanded its pediatric practice in the east and northwest by adding a clinic on East Speedway Boulevard and an office on North La Cañada Drive. It also opened an orthopedic surgery practice in midtown and plans to open a neurosurgery practice in the summer of 2023.

Through the committee’s efforts, Tucson Medical Center earned Foundational Policies designation for the 2022 Health Equality Index report for the hospital’s efforts to promote equitable and inclusive care for LGBTQ patients and their families.

The HEI, a project of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, is the national LGBTQ benchmarking tool that evaluates health care facilities’ policies and practices related to the equity and inclusion of their LGBTQ patients, visitors and employees.

At the foundational policy level, “health care facilities are early in their inclusion journey and

The next tiers are Top Performer and Equality Leader, which is the goal for TMC in the 2024 survey. Part of the ongoing work includes providing training in LGBTQ culturally-competent care as well as adapting the electronic medical record to easily document sexual orientation and gender identity.

Additionally, last year TMC provided community support for the annual Tucson Pride Parade & Celebration as well as for the University of Arizona Health Sciences annual LGBTQIA+ National Symposium & Community Fair that focuses on how best to foster inclusive and affirming health care.

Creating meaningful interaction between older adults and youth is at the heart of TMC for Seniors programs such as Tech Help, Portrait Reflections, Your Story on Stage and Life Lessons Mentorship.

Known as intergenerational programming, these activities increase cooperation, interaction and exchange between two generations. This programming helps seniors feel less isolated and helps teens learn how to connect with older adults.

The Gregory School high school students connect to seniors through the arts and tech help Maya Luria, director of TMC for Seniors, got the idea for intergenerational programs after hearing about Cyber Seniors, a six-week program offered in Canada where students teach seniors how to use the computer. She partnered with The Gregory School and began offering the same program here. The program has since evolved and is now called Tech Help, which is a 50-minute session where seniors can bring in any tech gadget, such as a phone, tablet or computer, and get help with it from a student.

Since 2022, two arts programs are also offered through The Gregory School partnership: Portrait Reflections and Your Story on Stage.

For Portrait Reflections, each art student was paired with a senior. They hung out and as the students got to know the seniors, they then created art portraits. TMC for Seniors held an art show, inviting the students and seniors to see the completed portraits. The excitement in the room was tangible as students and subjects were reunited to see the artwork.

“Oh, you did such a good job. It looks just like me,” one senior exclaimed at the show. Others took photos next to their portraits and had conversations with the artists.

For Your Story on Stage, theater students were each paired with a senior to learn about their life story. The students’ teacher worked with them to create a short script based on the senior’s life. They then performed the scripts on stage for the seniors.

“I think both the students and the seniors have an opportunity to learn how to make connections with people,” Luria said. “It’s so fun to see them share their knowledge on both sides.”

TMC for Seniors participants have become mentors for psychology students learning about aging. Students and seniors spend three hours together so the student can learn about the senior’s life and what wisdom they can share as they have aged. The student then writes a report and presents it to the class.

“The seniors are very excited,” Luria said. “They really enjoy it. They’re making these new connections on a real personal level and it makes them feel valued and excited to be able to share with others.”

A recent student learned that her senior is a Korean War veteran and a stamp collector who wants to make people feel wanted, needed and appreciated. He said the student “was an excellent student who will be successful in all aspects of her life.”

“I just think it’s so neat,” Luria said. “He said ‘thank you’ and that he will forever treasure this experience.”

The brightly lit room at TMC for Seniors was abuzz with chatter and anticipation as artist Carolyn King stood in front of a class of 20 seniors. She briefly reviewed the supplies on each table — sheet rock, clay, cookie cutters of various shapes and sizes — and how to use them.

Then they got to work. Mosaic Mondays class participants cut out different shapes of clay. Each piece eventually was painted and then added to a mosaic to represent the beautiful desert.

Cathie Logan sat at a table with two other women. They chatted about what they were doing. One had trouble getting the clay to pop out of the tiny cookie cutter. Another quietly concentrated on making the perfect shape.

“This is fun,” Logan said. “When you don’t have family, it’s nice to get out and do something like this.”

That’s what TMC for Seniors is all about.

“We hope to help older adults create connections through hands-on activities, social opportunities and wellness education,” said Maya Luria, director of TMC for Seniors. “Our goal is to help people remain engaged in the community and to continue to have good quality of life.”

The final masterpiece was completed and adorns the outside wall of TMC for Seniors.

Tucson Medical Center believes that building a healthy community starts with building healthy families. We do that through outreach programs and family safety events.

This year we were able to bring back our biggest family outreach event, Be Safe Saturday, where we handed out booster seats and bike helmets, and had community organizations engaging with children and their families. About 4,000 people attended.

Seeing the need for outreach in southeast Tucson, we introduced a new family event, Rincon Spooktacular Safety Fair, held at the TMC Rincon Health Campus with 1,600 people in attendance. Similar to Be Safe Saturday, this event included a DJ, free hot dogs and drinks, booster seats, bike helmets, trick-or-treating and lots of fun activities with community organizations.

Provided

500 free life jackets

Served 26,000 through outreach events 798 free swim lessons