April-May 2019

UTMB NEWSLETTER • APRIL/MAY 2019

Five-month journey culminates in opening of Clear Lake Campus

50 years of serving the community: Day in the Life of the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury

First Best Care in Action Award winners recognized Researchers develop a drug to rejuvenate muscle tissue

Sonya Schiwart, a care coordinator in UTMB Health’s Care Management department, and Lisa Moore, a social worker on the Galveston Campus, were recently recognized by UTMB President Dr. David Callender with President’s Way To Go Awards for helping to reunite an oncology patient with his mother in Georgia whom he had not seen in more than two decades.

The recognition marked the second time that Moore has received a WTGA from President Callender. She was previously honored in July 2017.

Dr. Rebeca Wong was recently appointed to the National Institutes of Health’s National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council.

The council is charged with advising, consulting with and making recommendations to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development director on matters relating to research and research support activities and functions. Wong is director of UTMB’s World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization Collaborating Center on Aging and Health, professor of Sociomedical Sciences in Preventive Medicine and Community Health, and a senior fellow of the Sealy Center on Aging.

Nora Cavazos, a senior legal assistant in UTMB’s International Affairs Office, was recently presented with the 2019 Advocate of the Year Award from the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA): Association of International Educators.

The award recognizes a member of the NAFSA community who embodies the spirit of advocacy and serves as an inspiration to others to make a difference by engaging elected officials in advocacy discussions.

Dr. Linda Phillips, chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery, has received the American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons’ 2019 Robert Goldwyn Mentor of the Year Award.

Phillips was honored at the ACAPS annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 7. This award is presented to an ACAPS member who has contributed significantly to the development of ethical, compassionate and academically productive surgeons for the next generation.

Dr. Ruth Levine was awarded the 2019 Career Educator Award by the AAMC Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA). Levine is associate dean for student affairs and admissions in the School of Medicine, and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. The SGEA is one of four regional groups that provide forums for discussing the concerns of the medical education profession, serve as resources and act in an advisory capacity to the national GEA and AAMC.

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From the President Welcome to the latest issue of Impact.

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April marks the 50th anniversary of what is now known as the UTMB Health Angleton Danbury Campus. Opened in 1969 as the Angleton Danbury General Hospital by the Angleton Danbury Hospital District, the campus has served the health needs of the surrounding area for decades. This issue highlights the history of the campus and offers a glimpse into a Day in the Life of the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury, a volunteer organization that has been an integral part of the hospital and the campus since the beginning.

Opening the Clear Lake Campus, a fivemonth journey Page 4

This issue also highlights the opening of our Clear Lake Campus on March 30. From day one, our newest hospital has been busy serving the health needs of the Bay Area.

Other articles in this issue cover: • Our Health System’s first “Best Care in Action” awards, recognizing individuals throughout the institution who’ve gone above and beyond to ensure the best care for our patients;

Researchers develop a drug to rejuvenate muscles

• New UTMB research into a drug that improves muscle size and strength;

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• Match Day 2019, which revealed where our graduating medical students will do their residency training; • An important overview of how our Information Services team is transitioning UTMB from iSpace to SharePoint to modernize how we collaborate on and manage documents;

Day in the Life of the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury

• Seasonal allergy tips from Dr. William J Calhoun; and • Hidden talent, trivia, kudos and more.

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I hope you enjoy the issue and that you know how much your efforts are appreciated every day.

Thank you!

Annual Match Day festivities pair medical students with residencies

Dr. David L. Callender UTMB President

Impact is for and about the people who fulfill UTMB’s mission to improve health in Texas and around the world. We hope you enjoy reading this issue. Let us know what you think!

ON THE COVER:

Founding members of the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury, from left, Bobbye Peltier, Sara McDaniel and Gayle Parsons, in front of the UTMB Angleton Danbury Campus.

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Vice President Marketing & Communications Steve Campbell Associate Vice President Marketing & Communications Mary Havard Editors Stephen Hadley Shannon Porter Jessica Wyble Art Director Mark Navarro

P R I N T E D B Y U T MB G RAPHIC D ESIG N & PRIN TIN G SERVICES

CONTACT US Email: impact.newsletter@utmb.edu Phone: (409) 772-2618 Campus mail route: 0144 U.S. Postal address: UTMB Marketing & Communications

301 University Boulevard

Galveston, TX 77555-0144

Photos, above and right, from the ribbon cutting for the new UTMB Health Clear Lake Campus and of the staff and facility, which opened March 30.

BY JESSICA WYBLE

Personnel. Equipment. Training. Infrastructure. Strategy. Collaboration.

These are just some of the moving parts it takes to open a new hospital.

Five months after officially announcing it had signed a 15-year agreement to lease the facility formerly known as Bay Area Regional Medical Center, UTMB opened its new Clear Lake Campus Hospital on March 30.

Working together to reopen the doors of the nine-story, 367,976-square-foot facility, located at 200 Blossom St. in Webster, were people from a variety of UTMB departments and groups, as well as the local community.

UTMB Property Services Associate Vice President Russell Rodecap and his team are just one of the groups that have been integrally involved in transforming the four-year-old structure into a fully-functioning hospital again.

needs of each department, installing countless machines and performing network and access checks.

Recognizing the importance of having Epic—the software used to house patient medical records—up and running seamlessly by day one, IS designated Angel Krantz, an associate applications system analyst, to stand by during “day-in-the-life” trainings in the Clear Lake Campus Hospital to ensure equipment and systems were functioning optimally.

Simulations that give employees the opportunity to practice procedures, processes and protocols without patients present, day-in-the-life trainings are a critical tool for both clinicians and support staff prior to opening.

“From The Joint Commission perspective, we need to make sure this building operates per codes and standards necessary for hospitals,” said Rodecap. “Initially I was tasked with making sure there were workstations available for any “Behind the scenes, we’re also focusing on the patient experience and overall and all drills, so that staff could practice in Epic if needed,” said Krantz, who environment of care.” volunteered to take on the Clear Lake project. “However, over time, I became a more general resource for the employees on-site, fielding a wide variety of IS Working alongside Rodecap’s team were several other Business Operations questions and concerns. They felt comfortable coming to me.” & Facilities departments, including Facilities Design & Construction, Utilities, Facilities Portfolio Management, Auxiliary Enterprise, Facilities Risk Management and Environmental Health & Safety.

In addition to the physical infrastructure of the building itself, representatives from UTMB’s Information Services (IS) have been busy preparing and building the virtual and technological framework that helps support the day-to-day operations of the hospital. IS personnel were on-site, regularly assessing the

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While IS and Property Services did a thorough job adequately preparing the physical space of the new hospital, Katrina Lambrecht, vice president of UTMB Health System operations and regional hospitals, knows that having the appropriate framework and support in place is just one piece of the puzzle.

“Opening a hospital is all-encompassing,” she said. “You have to consider everything from staffing and equipment needs to hours of operation, services offered and more.”

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That’s where people like Shelito “Lee” Alviza, nurse manager for Critical Care, Telemetry and Medical & Surgical Units at the Clear Lake Campus Hospital, come into play.

“From the start of this project, there was a lot of hiring and on-boarding that took place,” said Alviza, who was formerly based on the Galveston Campus.

With the help of UTMB’s Human Resources department, several job fairs and hiring events were held to recruit the qualified professionals needed to staff various teams at the new location.

At a March 20 ribbon-cutting event that featured representatives from seven area chambers of commerce, hundreds of members of the local community turned out to get a sneak peek at the facility. The crowd was abuzz with excitement as UTMB and local and state leaders spoke about the hospital and what it means for the region.

“That’s the ultimate goal of this whole facility,” said Alviza. “To serve this community again.”

As of March 30, more than 400 positions were filled to get the facility open; Recognizing what an all-hands-on-deck effort this has been for everyone involved, however, it’s important to note that the Clear Lake Campus is currently only Lambrecht had one message to share with the UTMB community—thank you. utilizing 87 of its potential 191 beds during the first few months of operation. “We really want to express our gratitude for the many, many people all over When service offerings eventually expand, so will the on-site workforce.

UTMB, as well as our community partners, who have help us along the way,” she said. “They have been so vital in getting this facility ready and open for the To instill cohesion across the organization, many of the new hires for the Clear Lake patients we serve.” n Campus, including Alviza’s team, underwent initial training on the Galveston Campus.

“All of our nurses here on-boarded on the Galveston Campus, to ensure consistency in policies, procedures and workplace culture,” said Alviza.

Annette Macias-Hoag, vice president for health system and service line operations, reiterates how critical such training and collaboration is to continuing the UTMB standard of care.

“Providing the right training ensures we can deliver safe and efficient care to every patient, every time,” said Macias-Hoag. “New managers like Gerard Wilson, Bethany Hoover, Christine Sedgwick and Amy Eason collaborated with established UTMB Health System managers to ensure they were familiar with UTMB’s processes, supplies and equipment while training as new employees.”

Filling a void left by the sudden closure of the Bay Area Regional Medical Center, UTMB’s new Clear Lake Campus Hospital is a welcome addition to the Bay Area community.

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In the first four weeks, the facility has been the site of

63 births, 15 inpatient surgeries, 776 Emergency Department visits and 85 outpatient surgeries.

To learn more about the preparations necessary to open the new facility, visit http://intranet.utmb. edu/clear-lake-campus.

For more information about care options available in the Bay Area, see www.utmbhealth.com/bayarea.

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B E S T C A R E I N AC T IO N

Whether working on the front lines in patient care or in another role at UTMB, everyone contributes to Best Care. Here are a few examples of employees in different roles who are demonstrating Best Care.

These employees were the recipients of the first Best Care in Action Awards announced in April.

Happy to help with the Clear Lake Campus opening Over the opening weekend of the UTMB Health Clear Lake Campus in early April, the staff realized that the perfusion pump packs needed to proceed with scheduled heart cases had not been ordered.

Everyone quickly sprang into action and began locating a source and arranging to have the packs delivered to the campus early in the week, with the hope that they would be on campus by the morning of April 2. However, recognizing the need and the urgency of the matter, Buck Bradford, senior materials handling technician in Materials Management, volunteered to drive to Oklahoma to pick up the perfusion packs to ensure they’d be available for the hospital’s first weekday of operation.

After driving for more than 12 hours round trip, Buck delivered the pump packs to the campus at 1 a.m., telling the staff upon his return to the Clear Lake Campus that he was happy to help.

Quick actions in a life-saving emergency On March 31, two patients with gunshot wounds arrived at UTMB Health’s Urgent Care Clinic in Texas City. In a scene that is not typical for an urgent care clinic, the team of physicians, nurses and staff quickly administered CPR, stabilized one of the patients and sent both via ambulance to UTMB’s Level I Trauma Center on the Galveston Campus.

There, faculty and staff worked to save the surviving patient’s life.

Back at the Texas City Urgent Care, Ann O’Connell, Dr. Cindy Judice and other staff worked to clean up the facility, which ended up closing for the rest of the day. Staff were given the opportunity to go home and, while some did, others volunteered to go to other UTMB urgent cares to help out since it was presumed patients who could not go to the Texas City site might go to another UTMB location.

A special thanks goes to everyone at the clinic, including Dr. Alberto Gutierrez, Kennikqua Thompson, Lycia Aguiar, Turquoria Williams, Yuridia Zuniga-Martinez, Jarica Herring, Kimberly Staton, ZaMia Serges and Rosana Gomez.

Going above and beyond to secure the proper medication for a patient Mark Garcia, purchasing manager in the Department of Pharmacy, is another UTMB employee doing everything he can to contribute to Best Care.

In early April, a patient arrived at UTMB to be treated for a serious condition. It was discovered that the patient’s health was also affected by a second illness—a rare condition that required a special medication.

Garcia quickly got to work to order the needed and rare medication, which was no small feat. Aside from the fact that the necessary medication required a special emergency order, the quantity that was needed to initiate and sustain treatment on an ongoing basis was considerable.

Still, Garcia ensured the medication was acquired for the patient, and he has worked closely with the manufacturer to ensure the patient will have access to the medication for ongoing therapy in the future.

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RESEARCH

BY DONNA RAMIREZ

UTMB RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVELOPED A PROMISING DRUG that significantly increases muscle size, strength and metabolism in aged mice.

the placebo group. In addition, the blood chemistry of the drug-treated and untreated mice was similar, suggesting no adverse drug effects were occurring.

As we age, our bodies increasingly lose the ability to repair and Adults over 65 are the fastest growing segment of the popurebuild degenerating skeletal muscles. Beginning around age 35, lation in many countries. In the next decade, the U.S. elderly muscle mass, strength and function continually decline as we population will increase by 40 percent and the cost of their get older. This can dramatically limit the ability of older adults health care is expected to double, accounting for over half to live fully active and independent lives. of all U.S. health care spending. Much of this spending will “We identified a protein in muscle stem cells that appears to be be used to treat health problems related to muscle decline, responsible for their age-related dysfunction, and then developed including hip fractures, falls and heart disease. a small molecule drug that limits the effects of this protein,” said “There are no treatments currently available to delay, arrest or senior author Dr. Stanley Watowich, UTMB associate professor reverse age-related muscle degeneration,” said senior author in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology.

Dr. Harshini Neelakantan, a UTMB research scientist in the “By resetting muscle stem cells to a more youthful state, we were department of biochemistry and molecular biology. able to rejuvenate them so that they could more effectively repair “These initial results support the development of an innovative muscle tissues.” drug treatment that has the potential to help the elderly to In the study published in Biochemical Pharmacology, aged become fitter, faster and stronger, thus enabling them to live mice with a muscle injury were treated with either the drug or more active and independent lives as they age.” a placebo. Following seven days of drug treatment, researchers found that the aged mice that received the drug had more functional muscle stem cells that were actively repairing the injured muscle. In the treated group, muscle fiber size doubled, and muscle strength increased by 70 percent, compared with

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Other study authors include UTMB’s Drs. Camille Brightwell, Ted Graber, Rosario Maroto, John Papaconstantinou and Christopher Fry as well as Drs. Hua-Yu Leo Wang and Stanton McHardy from the University of Texas at San Antonio. n

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BY SHANNON PORTER

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Sara McDaniel smiles as she looks up from the stack of papers she’s busily preparing for patients.

Every Wednesday morning, she’s the first person a patient sees as they enter the Angleton Danbury Campus Hospital.

“She’s our superstar receptionist,” says fellow Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury volunteer Kitty Bennett, who has worked with McDaniel for 26 years. “She’s a huge help to us.”

McDaniel works at the front desk of the hospital, keeping the traffic in the lobby flowing and getting patients where they need to be for appointments and procedures.

“Good morning,” she says as she greets a patient on this particularly dreary Wednesday morning. “How can I help you?”

Helping is ingrained in McDaniel’s DNA. She is one of the founding members of the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury, a group formed by six women from Second Baptist Church in 1969.

The Auxiliary was formed to support the founding of the Angleton Danbury General Hospital in April 1969, an ambitious concept with a mission to provide quality health care for their community and Brazoria County.

“If it wasn’t for the Auxiliary, the hospital wouldn’t be where it is today,” says Michael Washburn, program manager at the Angleton Danbury Campus and liaison to the Auxiliary.

ANG LETO N DA NB URY H O S PITA L A N D T H E AU X I L I A RY O F A N G L E TO N DA N BU RY: 50 Y EARS O 1967 Angleton Danbury Hospital District created; governed by an elected board of directors, as it remains today.

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1969 Angleton Danbury General Hospital opened with 34 licensed beds.

1989 Expansion nearly doubled Auxiliary members assisted at the size to 64 licensed beds, the information desk, business office, laboratory, switchboard and as floor current number. hostesses. Auxiliary members today remain an integral part of patient health care excellence.

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Over the years, the hospital has grown from two physicians to now being, as part of UTMB Health, a thriving health care resource with numerous faculty and community practices to serve patients.

Over the past five decades, McDaniel has worked in almost every department at the hospital, except the gift shop and cafeteria. When she first joined the Auxiliary, she volunteered in the business office where one of her main jobs was totaling records, she said.

As she walks through the hospital’s hallways, she offers smiles and hugs to those who have worked alongside her for years.

“I’ve always been civic-minded,” McDaniel says. “Life has been so good to me over the years, I believe in giving back.”

The Auxiliary has 140 members today, 80 of whom are active in volunteer and fundraising efforts.

In addition, the Auxiliary has raised more than $1 million over the past 50 years to support the hospital’s mission—through gift shop and bake sales, hospital vending machine proceeds and the annual event concert “Doc Rogers’ Family and Friends”. Among the equipment funded by the Auxiliary is a high-definition laparoscopic surgical unit. The organization also provides scholarships to Angelton-area students.

The largest single donation in the organization’s history was made

by Gladys and Joe Peklo, who left their entire estate to the Auxiliary to advance the health care mission. Today, the women’s unit at the hospital is named in memory of the Peklos.

EA R S OF SERV ING TH E C O MMUNITY 1996

1999

Given the first Excellence in Community Services Award by the Texas Hospital Association; also received federal recognition for “Excellence” in patient care and leadership.

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Name changed to Angleton Danbury Medical Center; the Surgical and Cardiac Care Center, Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, Rehabilitation Department and Specialty Clinic were added.

2000 Frank W. Stevens Center for Health and Wellness opened on the hospital campus; fitness programs available at minimal charge to community members.

2003 Received Trauma Level IV designation; first trauma designated facility in Brazoria County.

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The Auxiliary’s contributions in supporting exemplary care are numerous.

Auxiliary members work all across the Angleton Danbury Campus, with every volunteer having their own responsibility that makes use of their skills and experience.

from the parking lot to the hospital’s front doors. And, for the greater community, members donate blood.

Meanwhile, in the front lobby, a visitor might see Bobbye Peltier, another charter member who has volunteered more than 31,000 hours to the hospital district over the past 50 years.

When Peltier isn’t busy as the Auxiliary’s cookie chairperson or coordinating bake sales and decorating the campus for holidays, she distributes stuffed animals, trophies and pocket angels to brighten the days of patients and their families.

“If you do something for a stranger, it makes you feel good,” Peltier says. “This is just my way of giving back.”

They run the hospital’s gift shop and wellness center, staff the Compared to some of the other members, Joyce Echols is relfront desk, prepare beds for patients, and update patient families atively new to Brazoria County and the Auxiliary. She recently when their loved one is having a surgical or cardiac proce- moved to Texas from Minnesota and wanted to find a way to dure. They also run the Angleton Danbury Assistance Mobile, get involved in her new community, so she decided to join the a six-person golf cart used to transport visitors and patients Auxiliary, she says.

2007

2010

Completed hospital-wide renovation Outpatient with expanded Emergency Imaging Center Department, Surgery Center, Medical opened.

Surgical Units, Intensive Care and Peklo Women’s Pavilion, with latest technology and renovated, private patient suites.

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2013 Project Pink Warrior, a grantfunded breast health awareness project through Susan G. Komen Houston, launched a much-needed service to medically underserved, uninsured and indigent residents of southern Brazoria County.

2014 Angleton Danbury joins forces with UTMB Health to ensure excellent patient care continues in the community.

2019 Hospital District announces purchase of 177 acres to expand clinical space. The land acquisition stretches from the south side of Highway 35, west of Highway 288 down to South Walker Road.

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“They’re an integral part of the Angleton Danbury team and we are so thankful for each of them.”

She spends her time at the front desk at the main entrance of the hospital. There she greets every person with a smile and helps them get to and from their appointment.

Echols is also a great source to answer questions because even if she doesn’t have the answer, she knows one of her fellow Auxiliary members will.

“We’re a lot like family here,” Echols says.

“They make a true difference here,” Washburn says of the Auxiliary members. “They’re an integral part of the Angleton Danbury team and we are so thankful for each of them.” n

Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury launches 50th celebration with donation to UTMB

A celebration luncheon was held on April 25 to honor both the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury and the Angleton Danbury Hospital District for their “Golden Legacy of Service.”

Leading the way for the luncheon were honorary chair Donna K. Sollenberger, executive vice president and CEO of the UTMB Health System; chair Gayle Parsons, both a charter member of the Auxiliary and a member of the Angleton Danbury Hospital District board; and co-chair Melba Beken, who currently serves as the chair of the Angleton Danbury Hospital District.

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Proceeds from the luncheon established the UTMB Health Angleton Danbury Campus Enrichment Fund, providing patient care enhancements, state-of-the-art medical equipment, educational series and a variety of community outreach initiatives and programs for the Angleton and Danbury communities and surrounding region.

To launch these fundraising efforts, the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury presented a $50,000 check to UTMB Health representatives during the Auxiliary’s annual meeting in February. n

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E D UC AT IO N

BY SHANNON PORTER

STANDING IN LEVIN HALL’S MAIN AUDITORIUM on UTMB’s Galveston Campus, the energy is palpable.

More than 200 School of Medicine students are surrounded by family and friends—many in person, others via FaceTime or over the phone—for Match Day 2019.

Match Day participants included:

Every year, on the third Friday in March, this national event reveals to graduating medical students where they will fulfill residency training for their chosen specialty. The UTMB students gathered with family and friends on March 15 are eager to learn the next step of their long journey toward a career in medicine.

1 from Galveston

They each wait to be handed a white envelope with only their name on the outside. Inside the envelope: the key to their future and a milestone in their years of study, lectures, labs and clinical rotations.

17 from elsewhere in Harris County

Nisha Soneji was excited to hear she matched in internal medicine at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, but she is thankful for her time at UTMB. “My time here at UTMB has helped me grow as a person,” Soneji said. “My education wasn’t just about grades. It was about people.”

Troy Grantham found out he will be staying at UTMB for his psychiatry residency.

“I’m excited about that because we have such an outstanding faculty,” Grantham said. “I have already learned so much from them.” n

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2019 Class Highlights:

8 from elsewhere in Galveston County 25 from Houston 2 International students from: India and Canada Of the 223 entering residencies (based on PGY-1 results): Matched in Texas

126

57%

Matched at UTMB

33

15%

Matched outside Texas

97

43%

Matched within UT System

68

30%

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UTM B NEW S

Information Services in process of replacing iSpace with SharePoint Online and OneDrive

BY STEPHEN HADLEY

In an effort to modernize its content management and business processes across the institution, UTMB is replacing iSpace with two applications that are a part of Microsoft’s Office 365 Suite.

In March, Information Services began migrating all data currently in iSpace to SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business, a move that will enable UTMB employees and students to confidently share content inside and outside the organization while ensuring we’re able to collaborate securely.

The migration is expected to be completed by Aug. 31. iSpace, and its companion software Xythos Drive, has experienced numerous issues in recent years, including operating system concerns and browser compatibility. In addition, configuring iSpace permissions for users has been a constant source of frustration for many UTMB employees.

The transition to SharePoint Online and OneDrive addresses these concerns and will provide a number of additional features, including: • A truly collaborative experience working together on documents (no more being locked out of a file) • Connecting teams in the Office 365 environment, including the ability to easily share, reference and collaborate on content • Ability to control revisions and restore older versions of documents with version history • Ability to manage content editors with permissions

• Expanded storage capacity: OneDrive has 100 times more capacity for your work files than iSpace (SharePoint is used to manage and share departmental—or organizational—files and documents while OneDrive is a space for individual employees to store their work documents) • Ability to access files from anywhere at any time with SharePoint and OneDrive mobile applications “Once fully deployed, this transition will significantly improve users’ experience in collaborating with colleagues,” said Jeff Dubrow, Information Services manager and project manager. “Microsoft’s SharePoint and OneDrive for Business tools are complementary solutions that work together to provide the end-user a world-class collaboration and content management experience.”

The move from iSpace to the new Microsoft tools affects everyone at UTMB, as all data and files in iSpace will be migrated to SharePoint and OneDrive. A future project, not yet scheduled, will migrate all content from S: and H: drives into SharePoint and OneDrive.

For those not yet transitioned from iSpace, Information Services will notify you prior to migrating your files. In addition, training and support will be available online.

For more information, visit https://www.utmb.edu/o365/SharePoint/. You can also reach out via email at spo@utmb.edu.

NAME: Jill Sanchez UTMB TALENT: Administrative Assistant, Office of the Associate Vice President for Student Services HIDDEN TALENT: Inspiring movement through POP Pilates Jill Sanchez says she was immediately hooked on POP Pilates, a derivative of the popular exercise regimen that is choreographed to music and feels like a dance on a mat, because of the seamless transitions between exercises.

“It’s faster and more fun than traditional Pilates, which is focused on concentrated breathing along with movements,” she says. “We use today’s top music hits during classes, and from the first time I took a POP Pilates class, I fell in love with the format. That first class left me with a sense of accomplishment and positivity that inspired me to bring that to others.”

She’s now been teaching POP Pilates for two years at various fitness centers, including Fitness on the Go in Galveston, 24 Hour Fitness and Perry YMCA in League City and The Gilruth Center near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Sanchez even taught a class on the lawn near Old Red on UTMB’s Galveston Campus.

Her favorite part of teaching?

“I absolutely love my students,” she says. “They bring me joy and inspiration and my goal is to help them along their fitness journey. When I look up at my class and see a student or students who have progressed to a certain difficult move, I get so excited and happy for them.” n impact

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Five tips to combat allergy season

By Dr. William J Calhoun, professor and vice chair for research, UTMB’s Division of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and Allergy and Clinical Immunology The warmer days of spring are here and with the associated outdoor activities such as barbecues, festivals and sporting events comes a wave of allergies that can spoil a great day.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, more than 50 million Americans have experienced various types of allergies each year. An allergy is your body’s reaction when your immune system encounters a foreign substance, known as an allergen. An allergic reaction could be caused by something you eat, inhale into your lungs, inject into your body or touch. Seasonal allergies are the result of allergens released into the air during the spring blooming season, most notably from pollens.

Here are five tips for enjoying the season and avoiding those dreaded warm-weather allergies.

1. Know the pollen count. Track the pollen count with tools like those available at www.pollen.com and stay indoors in an air-conditioned environment when pollen counts are high.

2. Don’t damage your eyes. Protect your eyes from cornea damage by avoiding the tendency to rub or scratch them during allergic reactions. Soothing over-the-counter eye drops can help, and prescriptions eye drops are very effective in reducing itching.

3. An ounce of prevention. If you suffer from asthma, visit your allergist to learn about preventive medication that can help ease symptoms and help you enjoy your outdoor activities.

4. Know your treatments. Begin treatment with over the counter antihistamines and move onto over the counter topical nasal sprays, if necessary. If those do not work, check with your allergist for prescription medications.

5. Be prepared when hitting the road. Travel with decongestants and antihistamines so allergies don’t ruin your vacation fun.

UTMB TRIVIA Today, the women’s unit at the Angleton Danbury Campus Hospital bears the name of the couple who made the single largest donation in the history of the Auxiliary of Angleton Danbury.

Who was the couple who donated their entire estate to the Auxiliary?

Answer to the March trivia question: UTMB Correctional Managed Care’s Dental Services group performed more than 100,000 procedures in FY2018.

Congrats to Karen Sutton, correctional clinical associate at the Cleveland Correctional Facility, who won the March trivia!