UTMB NEWSLETTER • AUGUST 2018
Helping others be their best:
Institutional ADA officer and ergonomics expert
New video visit pilot program shows promise Researchers transplant bioengineered lungs CMC staff respond to community crisis
Rebecca Travis, Medical Intensive Care Unit/Coronary Care Unit nurse clinician at Jennie Sealy Hospital on the Galveston Campus, received the President’s Way to Go Award on July 31 for her contributions in providing exemplary care to a patient and her family earlier this year.
with reading material and always greeted them with a smile and words of comfort.
According to a note from the patient’s son, not only did Travis help the family during a difficult time while his mother was receiving care, but she went out of her way to support him in his efforts to return to nursing school and found ways Dr. David Callender with Way To Go Award recipient Rebecca Travis and each day to brighten the mood of Dr. David Marshall, UTMB’s chief nursing and patient care services officer. his family members. The family was in Galveston from out of state and Travis helped them find places to eat, brought them coffee each morning, supported them
“Her smile, her love, her passion, her genuine desire to make everyone feel welcome, it never stopped,” according to the WTGA nominating note. “Tied together with honesty and support during some of my toughest times, she really got us through.
“As I continue my journey into nursing, I will never forget the angel at UTMB that brightened everyone’s day, and never stopped taking care of all of us. I could never thank her enough, and this award wouldn’t even hold a candle to the recognition she deserves, but I feel as though it would be a good start.”
Dr. Anish Bhardwaj, interim provost, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology, has been conferred the status of Council of Deans Fellow by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The Council of Deans Fellowship Program was created to enhance the development of future leaders in academic medicine. It is designed for senior faculty members across the nation, including department chairs and assistant and associate deans, who are interested in being considered for deanships in the near future.
Sciences. Urban will continue in his vice dean role as well. In addition to that position, Urban is also the Edward Randall and Edward Randall Jr. Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine.
Dr. Randy Urban, vice dean for Clinical Research in the School of Medicine, became UTMB’s Chief Research Officer on Sept. 1. Dr. David Niesel, who has held the position for many years, stepped down from the role to focus on his duties as senior vice president and dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical
Estela Castillo, mental health associate in the Department of Teen Mental Health; Jennifer Haglund, nurse clinician in the Burns Intensive Care Unit (BICU); and Dr. Kimberlyn Robinson, assistant professor in UTMB’s OB-Gyn Women’s Healthcare Group, were named to The Galveston County Daily News’ inaugural “40 under 40” magazine, which profiles the best and the brightest in Galveston County as nominated by their peers in the community.
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impact
From the President Welcome to the final issue of Impact for Fiscal Year 2018! We’ve had a most eventful year—Hurricane Harvey and unusual winter ice storms on the Gulf Coast; tremendous Best Care success; research breakthroughs in such areas as infectious diseases, Alzheimer’s and more; the creation of the Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences; expansion at our League City Campus; the recent announcement of our letter of intent to lease an existing hospital facility in Webster, Texas.
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Researchers successful in transplanting bioengineered lung
We also have faced financial challenges that have given us a glimpse of the future in a changing health care arena and have accelerated efforts to transform how we work to ensure the long-term health of our mission. I’ll be talking more about where we are and where we’re going at the Sept. 19 Town Hall. Check www.utmb.edu/townhall for more information. I hope you can attend, either in person or remotely.
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I also want to share that crews are making great progress on the Health Education Center on the Galveston Campus. The building is funded in part through philanthropy—more than $915,000 of which has come from our own employees and students. Employee gifts of $100 or more and student gifts of $50 or more will be recognized in the building itself. The deadline for being included in that recognition is Sept. 28. Visit https://innovationsinmind.utmb.edu/home for more information. We look forward to seeing students in the center when it opens next year.
Day in the Life of UTMB’s institutuional ADA officer
In the meantime, this issue covers a wide range of stories about how employees far and wide are fulfilling our mission. They include:
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• Best Care in Action through a pilot program to conduct Care Management visits via video technology to reduce readmissions to the hospital • Our researchers’ latest success in growing lungs in the lab • A Day in the Life of Lela Lockett-Ware, ergonomics expert and UTMB’s Americans with Disabilities Act officer • Correctional Managed Care employees in Gatesville coming to the aid of their community after an explosion at a local hospital • The hidden talent of an automotive photographer • A summary of the past month’s Pulse videos • Tips for starting the school year off right, by Dr. Jeff Temple • This month’s trivia question and more
CMC Gatesville staff respond to crisis at local hospital Page 10
As always, send your story ideas, Hidden Talents and trivia answers to the Impact team. And thank you for all you do for UTMB and our mission. Hidden Talent: Cool photos of hot wheels Page 11
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!
Vice President Marketing & Communications Steve Campbell
ON THE COVER:
Editors Stephen Hadley Shannon Porter
UTMB’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Officer Lela Lockett-Ware with her measuring device and trademark orange notebook.
P R I N T E D B Y U T MB G RAPHIC D ESIG N & PRIN TIN G SERVICES
Associate Vice President Marketing & Communications Mary Havard
Art Director Mark Navarro
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
B E S T C A R E I N AC T IO N
VISITING BY VIDEO Pilot program helps Ambulatory Care Management team reduce hospital readmissions
BY SHANNON PORTER
UTMB’S AMBULATORY CARE MANAGEMENT TEAM is always looking for ways to better serve patients.
“A video visit is more personal than a phone call and more convenient than a home visit, particularly if the patient lives So when Information Services approached the team about par- in a rural area,” Shultis said. ticipating in a video visits pilot program, they knew this was Last November, two of the Ambulatory Care Management something that could benefit patients—especially those who team’s care managers—Mary Simon, a community health care live in rural areas. manager who covers Brazoria County, and Stacy Avina, a care Video visits are a form of telehealth that are conducted online. manager with the transitional care team—were recruited to For a video visit, Care managers are issued an iPad to conduct the participate in the pilot program. The 90-day video visit pilot visit, and patients are then instructed to activate their MyChart started in April and ended in June. on their smart device or a computer that is connected to WiFi Patients with chronic or complex diseases or conditions who and equipped with a camera. A video visit appointment is schedconsented to the program, had an active MyChart account and uled in MyChart, and when it is time for the appointment, the access to a smart device were selected for the pilot. care manager logs in and launches the video. One of the patients who participated required specific proce“This allows the care manager and patient to have a face-to-face dures and regular wound care at home, something that was visit via video,” said Toni Shultis, nurse manager in Ambulatory overwhelming to the patient’s spouse. Care Management. The care manager conducted several video visits with the couple, This type of telehealth allows the patient to continue receiving which enabled nurse practitioners and physician assistants to the care and regular supervision they need after they have been review uploaded images in Epic. discharged from the hospital and are in the home setting. The remote contact can help prevent a potential readmission to the Overall, the program was considered a success, according to the nurse practitioner and physician assistant. hospital. “Video visits have proven to be particularly helpful in cases “The patient and family were anxious about home care in the beginning, but because of this program, we provided them the where the patient has a wound, as an image can be captured reassurance and confidence they needed,” Shultis said. and uploaded into the patient’s medical record in Epic,” she said. Care managers document any details and pertinent findings “We believe that is ultimately what kept the patient from returnduring the video visits. ing to the hospital.” n
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RESEARCH
UTMB researchers successfully transplant bioengineered lung BY DONNA RAMIREZ
A UTMB RESEARCH TEAM has bioengineered lungs and transplanted them into adult pigs with no medical complications. In 2014, Dr. Joan Nichols and Dr. Joaquin Cortiella were the first research team to successfully bioengineer human lungs in a lab. In a paper now available in Science Translational Medicine, they provide details of how their work has progressed from 2014 to the point that no complications have occurred in the pigs. “Our ultimate goal is to eventually provide new options for the many people awaiting a transplant,” said Nichols, professor of internal medicine and associate director of the Galveston National Laboratory at UTMB. To produce a bioengineered lung, a support scaffold is needed that meets the structural needs of a lung. A support scaffold was created using a lung from an unrelated animal that was treated using a special mixture of sugar and detergent to eliminate all cells and blood in the lung, leaving only the scaffolding proteins, or skeleton, of the lung behind. The cells used to produce each bioengineered lung came from a single lung removed from each of the study animals. This was the source of the cells used to produce a tissue-matched bioengineered lung for each animal in the study. The lung scaffold was placed into a tank filled with a blended cocktail of nutrients, and the animals’ own cells were added to the scaffold following a carefully designed protocol or recipe. The bioengineered lungs were grown in a bioreactor for 30 days prior to transplantation.
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Dr. Joaquin Cortiella (center) and Dr. Joan Nichols discuss their research with host Craig Cohen on a recent episode of KUHF’s “Houston Matters” radio program. All of the pigs that received a bioengineered lung stayed healthy. As early as two weeks post-transplant, the bioengineered lung had established the strong network of blood vessels needed for the lung to survive. “We saw no signs of pulmonary edema, which is usually a sign of the vasculature not being mature enough,” said Nichols and Cortiella, professor of pediatric anesthesia. “The bioengineered lungs continued to develop post-transplant without any infusions of growth factors. The body provided all of the building blocks that the new lungs needed.” Nichols said that the focus of the study was to learn how well the bioengineered lung adapted and continued to mature within a large, living body. They didn’t evaluate how much the bioengineered lung provided oxygenation to the animal.
“We do know that the animals had 100 percent oxygen saturation, as they had one normal functioning lung,” said Cortiella. “Even after two months, the bioengineered lung was not yet mature enough for us to stop the animal from breathing on the normal lung and switch to just the bioengineered lung.” For this reason, future studies will look at long-term survival and maturation of the tissues as well as gas exchange capability. The researchers said that with enough funding, they could grow lungs to transplant into people in compassionate use circumstances within five to 10 years. “It has taken a lot of heart and 15 years of research to get us this far. Our team has done something incredible with a ridiculously small budget and an amazingly dedicated group of people,” Nichols and Cortiella said. n
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BY STEPHEN HADLEY
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Lela Lockett-Ware walks into an office in Jennie Sealy Hospital on UTMB’s Galveston Campus, and within minutes, she’s diagnosed the issues with a workstation that are causing a literal pain in the neck for one executive. “The monitor was too low and the seat pan on her chair needed to be adjusted so that she could work more comfortably,” she says. “It’s a common issue that can lead to physical pain, eye strain and just an overall uncomfortable work situation.” Lockett-Ware, UTMB’s institutional American with Disabilities Act (ADA) officer, will conduct more than 100 similar worksite evaluations in a year, just one of the many responsibilities this occupational therapist will tackle in a given day. This day has been typical of most, she says. Before her visit to the office of Ann O’Connell, UTMB’s vice president of Ambulatory Operations, to make her desk setup more ergonomically correct, Lockett-Ware had already visited Clear Lake Center to review an employee’s leave-of-absence request and led another meeting to consider an ADA accommodation for a different employee.
“Every day is different and that’s one of the things I really love about what I do,” Lockett-Ware says. “I can be addressing ADA compliance issues, ergonomics, temporary job modification requests or leave-of-absence requests for employees and students. It’s my passion because I’m working with people all day, every day, and that’s what I really enjoy.” In addition to being UTMB’s ergonomics specialist, one of Lockett-Ware’s primary responsibilities is ensuring UTMB is complying with related federal requirements. The civil rights law passed by Congress in 1990 and amended in 2008 prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities. It also imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations.
“I’m truly the entire institution’s ADA officer, and I believe providing access to everyone at UTMB is vital to this role, which means I’ll travel to locations when needed.”
Lela Lockett-Ware with Mike Cromie, assistant director of Student Life, whom she helped recently to make the transition to an upright desk to improve his workstation environment. 8
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ADA accommodations can vary but
“I think ergonomics is critical to every employee’s success,” she says. “If you walk in everyday to a workstation that is often include a change in schedule or equipment to enable going to cause you some level of discomfort, you’re not the employee or student to perform the essential functions going to be as willing to sit there. But when that workstaof their job. The most common, Lockett-Ware says, are tion is set up properly, you will get more done and you’ll modifying workstations or adjusting work hours. In FY18 feel better at the end of the day. alone, she’ll address more than 200 ADA issues across UTMB’s locations, including our campuses, clinics and “Seeing how an employee works from a functional standCorrectional Managed Care facilities. point brings out the best of the OT in me and allows me
“Have car, will travel,” she says. “I’m truly the entire institution’s ADA officer, and I believe providing access to everyone at UTMB is vital to this role, which means I’ll travel to locations when needed.” Lockett-Ware started at UTMB as an occupational therapist right out of college in 1988 but left a year later to pursue opportunities in the private sector. She returned in 2000 as a medical case coordinator for worker’s compensation; she then was assigned the duties of the returnto-work coordinator to manage temporary modified-duty cases. She transitioned to the Institutional ADA officer role in 2013, and has earned her certifications as an ADA coordinator, a disability management specialist and an ergonomics assessment specialist during her career. Throughout her tenure, however, she’s helped employees with ergonomics issues, mostly through word-of-mouth referrals from people who sing her praises for the ways she has improved their overall work experience.
to help others be the best they can be. It’s such a rewarding way to be of service to everyone at UTMB.”
For O’Connell, whose workstation in her Jennie Sealy Hospital office was modified to alleviate significant pain in her neck, shoulders and arms, Lockett-Ware’s visit is a godsend. “This is so vitally important,” she says. “For us desk jockeys, we are on the computer or on the phone most of the day and in meetings the rest of the time. As an executive, I just fly into the work, and I don’t really think about my body position because I’m just trying to get the work done. It’s not until I feel several weeks of pain that won’t go away that I think there’s something wrong with my desk setup. “She can spot it right away, and I’m so thankful for her because this will help me work more comfortably.” n
Take a break Lela Lockett-Ware is a big believer in taking frequent breaks throughout the day to improve your overall work experience. “You need to get up, move around and do some sort of stretching throughout the day,” she says. “It’s important because we all get lax with our posture when we’re sitting for too long. You’re going to start slumping in your chair and that impacts your overall health.” Lockett-Ware recommends that employees take a short break every 45 minutes by just standing up, walking around their office and doing light stretching. She says it will alleviate strain on the eyes and the body and make us more productive throughout the day.
Lockett-Ware adjusts the seat of Ann O’Connell, UTMB’s vice president of Ambulatory Operations, during a recent ergonomic assessment. impact
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GO O D NE WS
BY SHANNON PORTER
F
or nine UTMB Correctional Managed Care nurses working
in Gatesville, Texas, June 26 started off just like any other day.
But that normalcy changed after one nurse received a Skype call from an off-duty colleague. The call was to ask the on-duty CMC nurses if they had heard about the explosion at Coryell Memorial Hospital, which in the small community of Gatesville, is only about six miles from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Alfred D. Hughes Unit. “Because of where we’re located in the prison, we couldn’t feel or see the explosion,” said Teri Smith, a nurse manager at the Hughes Unit who received the call. “But when I went outside, all you could see was a huge cloud of smoke.” The explosion, which occurred while construction crews were working in the hospital’s boiler room, killed three people and injured more than a dozen others.
UTMB Correctional Managed Care employees from the Alfred D. Hughes Unit in Gatesville, Texas, who responded to an emergency at a local hospital included, from left, Denice Thomason, RN; Steivee Jacobs, LVN; Rebecca Dahl, LVN; Teri Smith, RN, CNM; Penny Bomar, LVN; Katrina McAndrew, RN; Teryn Rauschenberg, LVN; Jennifer Sypert, CMA; and Sherrie Tipper, EMT.
“We are all proud to work for an organization that recognizes how important it was to respond and help the community we live and work in.”
Smith said almost everyone at the Hughes ell Community Church to help with the Unit knows people who work at the hos- patients being sheltered there. pital or have loved ones in the nursing “We helped off-load them, identify them, home located near the hospital. The make sure they had their oxygen and nurses on-duty that day, along with others water to drink because it was quite hot,” who were off that day, did what they could Smith said. to help during the crisis. The nurses also worked to identify diabetSome of the CMC nurses rushed to the ic patients, serve meals and help console hospital and the two nursing homes locatthem because they were all frightened, ed nearby to help evacuate patients. The she said. nursing home patients were transported to different churches and nursing homes, “The whole community came together,” so the rest of the nurses went to Cory- Smith said. “And it didn’t surprise me that
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UTMB staff were all so willing to help. We are all proud to work for an organization that recognizes how important it was to respond and help the community we live and work in.” Following Hurricane Harvey, which devastated much of Southeast Texas last year, the same staff members in Gatesville gathered truckloads of supplies and water and transported them to Beaumont to help the victims, she said. “UTMB has a big heart!” Smith said. n
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GOOD NEW S
President David Callender launched his “Pulse” video update series in May to keep the UTMB family up-to-date on issues affecting the organization. In July, those videos covered: July 13 A discussion about the recommendations provided by the Berkeley Research Group regarding UTMB’s Health System July 25 A review of UTMB’s financial results as of June 30, specifically referencing that our institution had significantly closed the gap on our budget deficit for the fiscal year July 26 An update on where UTMB stands with implementation of the recommendations provided by the Berkeley Research Group for the Health System
There are multiple ways to access Dr. Callender’s video updates. In addition to the recap in Weekly Relays, you can watch and listen to the videos from https://www.utmb.edu/ president/pulse. Please use a modern web browser for the best experience. If you are at a PC without audio or speakers, closed captioning on the videos can be turned “On” and “Off” by clicking the “CC” symbol in the video player tool bar (the symbol displays once you hit “play,” on the right side of the tool bar). Closed captioning is now on by default. You can also access the transcripts on the Pulse website to read the messages; a transcript accompanies each video. If you are a social media user, the videos (with subtitles) are posted to the UTMB employee Facebook page, I Am UTMB. Facebook will display captions if you mute the sound.
Name: Jorge De La Garza UTMB Talent: Talent and Organizational Development Consultant in Human Resources Hidden Talent: A photog with a penchant for fancy wheels Jorge De La Garza has always been passionate about photography. But his hidden talent emerged when he faced a commute to his new position at UTMB and needed a fuelefficient car. He purchased a 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit that got more than 55 miles per gallon and introduced him to a community of fellow VW enthusiasts. He was invited to a couple of car shows where he started coupling his love of photography and his newfound involvement with auto buffs. “Soon, I got asked to be the official photographer for a couple shows and it blew up from there,” De La Garza said. “Long story short, I improved my skills and invented my Automotive Studio Booth. Randomly throughout the year, I get invited to car meets and car shows and set up my Automotive Studio Booth where cars can drive up, take studio quality portraits, see their photos edited on the spot, printed and even framed right there.” You can see Jorge’s work at http://dlgmedia.org.
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Back to School Tips By UTMB’s Behavioral Health and Research team and Dr. Jeff Temple, professor and director of Behavioral Health and Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Ease into the routine Switching from a summer to a school schedule can be stressful to everyone. Avoid back-toschool chaos by developing a routine that includes earlier bedtimes and organizing school stuff like backpacks, school supplies, lunches or lunch money the night before a school day. Routines help children feel comfortable, and establishing a solid school routine will make the first day of school and the rest of the school year go much smoother.
Get to know your child’s school and teachers
Create a plan together If your child has a concern about going back to school—maybe they have test anxiety, don’t know how they are going to handle all the homework or were bullied— create a plan of action together to tackle the issue. Hold off on giving advice or offering solutions right away to empower your child to find solutions. After all, if your child comes up with the solution, they will be more likely to follow through. If your child can’t think of any ideas, it’s OK to offer some up to get them started.
For many kids, one of the biggest back-to-school fears is, “Will I like my new teacher?” Take advantage of open house or back-to-school nights to meet the new teacher and tour the school. With an older child, you can ask them to give you a tour of the school to help refresh their memory and yours. Some teachers also welcome phone calls or e-mails as another way to get to know each other before the year begins. Familiarizing your child with the school environment will help ease anxiety of the unknown.
Ask for help
Talk about any anxieties
Additional Information
Going back to school can be stressful for kids of all ages, but asking them about their fears or worries about going back to school will help them share what is troubling them. Let your child know that you understand what they are going through and that you will be there to help them. Also ask about what they liked about their previous school or grade and help them look for these same or similar things in their new school or grade to help make the transition a positive one.
If you or your child feel too stressed or overwhelmed about the start of the school year, ask for help from someone at your child’s school like a guidance counselor, social worker or assistant principal. You can also seek help from a mental health professional, such as a psychologist, to help you better manage and cope with the stress.
• https://bit.ly/2PwYRit • http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/school-rush.aspx • https://www.utmb.edu/bhar
UTMB TRIVIA Nowadays, we take it for granted that ambulances provide safe and quick transport to our campus hospitals. The photo at left shows the first such motorized ambulance used at UTMB’s Galveston Campus. What year did UTMB put this vehicle into service? Send your answer to impact. newsletter@utmb.edu and be entered into a drawing to win a UTMB swag bag. Good luck! Answer to the July trivia question: The famous dignitary who visited UTMB in May 1937 was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Congrats to Cheri Salinas, surgical technologist in Labor and Delivery on UTMB’s Galveston Campus, who won the July trivia!