Impact June 2018

UTMB NEWSLETTER • JUNE 2018

On the case:

Solving puzzles to protect UTMB and community Celebrating milestones at Employee Service Day Always focused on providing Best Care Hidden talents hit a musical note

In early May, UTMB’s Galveston Campus learned it had received Comprehensive Stroke Center accreditation from DNV GL. The certification, which is the highest designation, followed a rigorous onsite review that evaluated adherence to DNV GL comprehensive stroke standards and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, as well as compliance with mandated performance measures. The certification encompasses the full spectrum of stroke care­—diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and education—and establishes a concise system of measurements to evaluate outcomes.

Comprehensive stroke centers are typically the largest and best-equipped hospitals in a given geographical area that can treat any kind of stroke or stroke complication. Thanks to Dr. Adham Kamel, stroke medical director, Dr. Stephen Busby, director of Inpatient Neurology Services, Annette Macias-Hoag, associate vice president of Health System Operations and assistant chief nursing officer, Brenda Yanez, stroke program coordinator, Dr. Karthikram Raghuram, director of Neuroradiology, Dr. Alok Dabi, director of the Neurosciences Critical Care Program, Dr. Hashem Shaltoni, medical director of Interventional Services, Dr. Eric Walser, professor and chair of Radiology, as well as the Neurology and Neurosurgery house staff, nursing leadership and many others who helped UTMB achieve Comprehensive Stroke Center designation.

Dr. Sandra “Sunny” Hatch, professor and interim chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, and Dr. Jong O. Lee, professor in the Department of Surgery, have been named the 2018 William Osler Scholars in the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine. The Osler Scholars are chosen for exemplifying the principles of highly competent, humane, compassionate, patient-centered care and teaching embodied

by Sir William Osler, one of the founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital and the creator of the first residency program for specialty training of physicians.

Congratulations to Dr. Preston Kerr, first-year urology resident at UTMB, for being selected into the prestigious 2018-2019 Future Leaders Program, a national program of the High Value Practice Academic Alliance.

Kerr is one of 53 trainees who designed commendable, value-based quality improvement projects that they will direct in their medical center under local mentorship, while participating in a year-long, immersive skill-building and leadership program.

UTMB Laboratory Services, a three-campus service providing laboratory testing for all UTMB hospitals and more than 90 clinics, celebrated Medical Laboratory Professionals Week in late April. Laboratory Services comprises approximately 300 employees, including faculty, residents and fellows. In fiscal year 2017, the lab produced a billable test volume of approximately 3.1 million. Medical Laboratory Professionals Week recognizes medical laboratory personnel for the vital role they play in the diagnosis and prevention of disease.

From left: Jennifer Hoesel (supervisor, Laboratory Services) and Morgan Kilty (technical supervisor, Laboratory Services) hosted a lab expo booth in Jennie Sealy Hospital in late April in recognition of UTMB lab professionals and to create awareness of the services UTMB labs provide.

Karen Colombo, a patient services specialist at the UTMB Health clinic in Webster, was recognized with a President’s Way To Go Award in late May for her efforts to resolve a lingering paperwork issue related to a patient’s insurance. The patient’s spouse said Karen explained the issue to them, worked diligently to fix it and ensured that they wouldn’t have a similar problem going forward. “I can’t believe she worked on this while we were seeing the physician assistant and then showed us what happened.

She was so kind and kept apologizing and I just wanted to hug her because she took time I’m sure she didn’t have to figure it out,” the patient’s spouse noted.

JUNE 2018

impact

From the President Welcome to the newest issue of Impact! This issue highlights the important contributions of our faculty and staff and your ongoing commitment to improving health for the people of Texas and around the world.

J UNE 2 0 1 8

In particular, this edition includes an article on the annual Employee Service Day celebration in mid-May where we honored more than 1,700 employees who achieved significant service milestones and 656 GEM card recipients. The event also honored four remarkable employees who have each dedicated more than four decades of service to the university and introduced the winner of this year’s Nicholas and Katherine Leone Award for Administrative Excellence, a tremendous recognition for a manager or supervisor who displays the highest degree of professionalism.

An Ebola breakthrough?

Page 5

To stay in touch with each of you on an ongoing basis, I recently launched a video update called “Pulse.”

In the month since it began, I’ve received numerous questions about our current financial challenges and the steps we’re taking to reduce our expenses while increasing revenues. I cover these topics—among others—in the videos. You can view the updates at https://www.utmb.edu/president/pulse.

Day in the Life of a UTMB Police detective

As always, Impact includes numerous articles that highlight the great work you’re doing to advance our mission areas. Among them:

Page 6

• A day in the life of Greg Gaona, UTMB Police Department detective, criminal intelligence officer and K9 officer • How two teams—Courier Services and Environmental Services—are doing their part to contribute to our Best Care initiative • A closer look at a new Ebola study that has identified antibodies that could be used to design universal therapeutics • The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences honors graduates at commencement

Celebrating employees

• The latest installment of Hidden Talent, where we profile employees’ pursuits outside of our institution

Page 10

• Numerous accomplishments and kudos in the Working Wonders column and throughout the newsletter If you have ideas for future issues of the newsletter, please let the Impact team know. Thank you!

Employee Hidden Talent

Dr. David L. Callender UTMB President

Page 11

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 KirstiAnn Clifford Stephen Hadley Shannon Porter

UTMB Police Detective Greg Gaona is also a criminal intelligence officer and a K9 officer with the department.

Associate Vice President Marketing & Communications Mary Havard

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

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

Always focused on providing Best Care Courier Services, Environmental Services teams recognized for their contributions toward supporting an optimal patient experience

BY MARY FELDHUSEN

THE FOCUS ON PROVIDING BEST CARE EXTENDS WELL BEYOND the unit or clinic setting, as every employee contributes—directly or indirectly—to providing top-notch care to patients across our institution.

Recently, the Health System awarded Courier Services and Environmental Services with the quarterly Always Award, which recognizes remarkable performance or is conferred to a team at UTMB that supports the delivery of exceptional Inpatient and Ambulatory patient care.

The goal of the Always Award, which was launched in June 2014, is to improve patient satisfaction by promoting positive outcomes while encouraging friendly competition across units and practice areas. Winners are chosen based on patient satisfaction scores from Press Ganey, quality data and other measures.

This past quarter, Courier Services received the honor from Ambulatory Operations due to their work in supporting exemplary patient care.

“They are receptive, always professional, responsive, kind, courteous and great team members,” says Ann O’Connell, vice president of Ambulatory Operations, about the Courier Services team.

“If the clinics ever forget to give them something, they’ll turn around to pick it up. They handle patient specimens, they deliver emergency supplies—like sand for parking lots in inclement weather—and they pick up instruments and

Courier Services accepted the Ambulatory Always Award. Pictured, from left: Neal Cooper, Bruce Eversole, Jose Martinez, Felipe Rodriguez, Teresa Hendley, Melanie Bishop, Derek Cerini, Brian Dean, Lauren Kelley, John Chatman

4

take them to Sterile Processing. They even deliver the mail and recycling bags.”

The Inpatient Always Award was presented to Environmental Services for the team’s work in keeping the hospital environment clean and orderly.

David Marshall, UTMB’s chief nursing and patient care services executive, said that even Vizient, Inc., the organization responsible for the quality and accountability rankings that serve as indicators for our Best Care initiative, had been amazed at the high percentile scores UTMB consistently receives for “cleanliness of the hospital environment” in patient engagement surveys.

Marshall added that, without exception, patient testimonials always include a positive comment about Environmental Services personnel.

“Thank you for keeping our units nice and preventing infections,” he told the team when presenting the Always Award.

The awards highlight that it’s up to each of us to deliver what every patient, family member and employee deserves—the best possible care and service in a welcoming environment.

Units and practice areas can win a maximum of two times during the same year, and quarterly winners assist unit-based clinical leadership with the development and recognition of best practices. n

Environmental Services team members include: Tiffany McNeal, Sonia Sorta, Carla Gamble, Anita Kar, Maria Ramos, Juanita Chatmon, Rosibel Salgado, Maranda Batiste, Khristina Garza, Christine Mills, Maria Martinez, Reina Martinez. Managers in back: Brian Moses, Jason Botkin, David Marshall

JUNE 2018

impact

RESEARCH

An Ebola breakthrough?

New study identifies antibodies that could be used to design universal therapeutics

BY DONNA RAMIREZ

A NEW COLLABORATIVE STUDY HAS IDENTIFIED Ebola antibodies that could be used to design universal therapeutics that are effective against many different Ebola species. The findings were recently published in Nature Microbiology.

The Ebola virus causes a severe illness with high mortality rates in humans.

Several treatments have been developed for the Ebola infection, including ZMapp, which has been shown to be effective in non-human primates and has been used under compassionate-treatment protocols in humans.

ZMapp, an experimental biopharmaceutical drug developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical in San Diego, California, was used to treat humans in the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak.

“The trouble with ZMapp is that, although it is effective against the Ebola species that was largely responsible for the last Ebola outbreak, it does not neutralize other Ebola species, including Ebola Bundibugyo, Reston or Sudan,” said virologist Alex Bukreyev, co-senior author of the study and a UTMB professor of pathology. “We identified and studied three naturally occurring antibodies from human survivors of Ebola Bundibugyo that neutralize and protect against infection with the several different Ebola virus species.”

The newly identified antibodies bond at a different site on the Ebola virus than other antibodies currently used to develop Ebola therapies.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, the virus has been infecting people from time to time, leading to outbreaks in several African countries.

Some of the different Ebola viruses are: • Zaire ebolavirus • Sudan ebolavirus • Taï Forest ebolavirus • Bundibugyo ebolavirus • Reston ebolavirus, known to cause disease in non-human primates and pigs, but not in people

impact

JUNE 2018

Other authors of the study from UTMB also include Natalia Kuzmina, Philipp linykh, Xiaoli Shen, Kai Huang, Palaniappan Ramanathan and Thomas Ksiazek.

They were joined in the study by researchers from Vanderbilt University, The Scripps Research Institute and Integral Molecular, Inc., a private biotech company.

The study was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the National Institutes of Health. n

UTMB professor helped develop vaccine now being used to fight Ebola outbreak in Congo AN EBOLA VACCINE THAT DR. THOMAS GEISBERT HELPED DEVELOP is being used to combat an outbreak of the deadly disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Geisbert, a UTMB professor of microbiology and immunology, helped create the experimental vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, that is now being deployed by the World Health Organization to fight an outbreak that has infected three dozen people and killed as many as 25.

According to the WHO, the innoculations in the Congo mark the first time that a vaccine has been used to battle an Ebola outbreak from its onset.

The vaccine, which is now licensed to drugmaker Merck, was administered to more than 4,000 people considered at-risk toward the end of the West African outbreak in 2014. None of those who received it contracted the disease, thus prompting public health officials to use it at the start of this spring’s outbreak.

5

BY KIRSTIANN CLIFFORD

SLEEP DOESN’T ALWAYS COME EASY FOR UTMB DETECTIVE GREG GAONA. He often wakes up in the middle of the night with an “aha” moment that may crack a case or lead to an arrest.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an idea come to mind at 3 a.m. and I have to go write it down,” he says. “Putting puzzles together and solving cases, especially complex cases—I can’t tell you how rewarding that is. You have to be persistent, nosy and think outside the box.”

Since he joined the UTMB Police Department as a guard 20 years ago, Gaona’s thirst for new and challenging assignments has led him to become the department’s criminal intelligence officer and K9 officer. Gaona and his four-legged “partner in crime,” Jay, a Belgian Malinois, can be spotted patrolling the Galveston Campus and assisting neighboring agencies with detection of suspicious articles.

6

JUNE 2018

impact

impact

JUNE 2018

7

WHEN I MEET UP WITH GAONA ON A WEDNESDAY MORNING, he is preparing himself for a bit of a role reversal.

Commission on Law Enforcement. As state police officers, they have jurisdiction within 63 counties where property is owned, leased, rented or otherwise under the control of UT System.

“I’m usually the person asking the questions, not answering them, so this should be fun,” he says warmly, offering a firm handshake. “I’ve been on cases that have literally taken me all over the state,” says Gaona. “A lot of people wonder why we are pulling them It’s hard to ignore Jay peering out from a large kennel next to over on the highway, thinking we are just campus cops. But Gaona’s desk. The two are together 24/7—Gaona even takes the that’s not the case.” dog with him on vacations. It’s immediately clear they share a One recent case that he’s proud to have helped solve involved special bond. an identity theft ring. As part of a seven-month investigation, “He’s mad at me right now because I won’t let him out of the Gaona, along with Detective Jason Chide, traveled to Dallas, kennel,” he laughs. “Jay came from Holland. He knows Dutch Austin, Waco and Round Rock, partnering with the FBI and and is one of only three bomb dogs in the county. It’s a blessing Secret Service. He also teamed up with other UTMB departI was able to get him because I’m older now—he’s my legs, eyes ments, such as Compliance, to examine different leads. He credand ears. A lot of people don’t understand that we are a tactical its Shelly Witter, privacy officer and director of compliance unit, so we will go in before a SWAT team to search a building. programs, with being instrumental in the case.

You have to have faith in your dog.”

“Through our work here and the work Shelly did, the main susGaona usually starts his day around 7 a.m. by reviewing the pect got 15 years in federal prison and she will do every bit of police department’s “Daily Activity Report,” which covers what those 15 years,” says Gaona. “But not all cases go smoothly. It went on over the last 24 hours. If there are any pertinent cases can be frustrating when you’ve put in months of time and effort that need to be addressed immediately, he will take the lead or just to hit a road block. But we’ve had cases over the years that assign them among the three detectives he supervises. may be in the last months before the statute of limitations runs “My days vary—I could get a call right now and have to rush out and we’ll get some intel just in the nick of time to solve the out the door, or I could spend my day gathering intel (infor- case. It’s amazing.” mation), logging evidence, serving warrants or training Jay,” he Gaona knows pretty much every law enforcement entity around says. “Between myself and the three other detectives assigned Texas and the country, as he partners with anyone who needs to the criminal investigations division, we have more than 30 assistance. ongoing cases. At UTMB, it’s like a mini city. We don’t have separate divisions like homicide or property crime. Here, whatever AS WE DISCUSS MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES FROM throughout comes through, we will handle it.” his 20-year career—such as the time he recovered $240,000 Gaona says UTMB PD has some of the best-trained officers in worth of 16th-century tapestries that had been stolen from the state, as he has had the opportunity to go through highly UTMB’s Open Gates Conference Center, or when he helped specialized training for areas such as cybercrime, forensics and safely transport Ebola waste from Dallas to UTMB for safe biosecurity. He explains that UTMB officers are commissioned incineration—his phone rings. A truck delivering supplies has by the UT System Board of Regents and licensed by the Texas arrived at the Galveston National Lab.

Above: Gaona, right, with UTMB Police Detective Jose Cortez.

8

JUNE 2018

impact

Below: Gaona, right, with Interim Police Chief Ruben Puente.

“Whenever a contract truck comes through there, it has to be checked by dogs,” he says. “We have one other K9 team, Sergeant Wesley Braunsdorf and Noey, who are available if anything comes up overnight. We’ll also do a walk around the GNL building, just to look for anything suspicious. It’s also just to be seen—visibility is one of the most important parts of our job.”

not have to wear hot suits in the middle of July.”

Puente looks impressed with the idea and comments on Gaona’s invaluable role in the department.

“Greg brings a wealth of experience and leads a very active intelligence-gathering network here at UTMB,” says Puente. “He is very knowledgeable and is a great mentor to younger officers— Gaona leads Jay around the truck, having him sniff all sides of how can I complain?” the vehicle. Once cleared, Jay is taken off-leash to walk around the GNL. The energetic canine weaves through the bushes and Gaona says his goals for the future are to develop a robust, proacchecks out every corner and crevice of the area. Whenever tive threat management and assessment team that incorporates biosecurity, especially with the GNL on the Galveston Campus.

Gaona says a command, Jay reacts quickly.

That includes keeping up with evolving technology and moni“We train all the time—it’s non-stop,” says Gaona. When we toring social media for potential threats. get back to his patrol vehicle, he pulls out a small cotton ball that has the scent of TNT on it and plants it near the gas tank. As for his afternoon, he plans on working on a “big” case with “When Jay gets to it and smells it, he should sit and then I’ll his colleague, Detective Jose Cortez. Their lips are sealed when it comes to disclosing any details about the case, so we say goodbye. reward him with his tug toy.”

Gaona will continue piecing together pieces of the puzzle— Sure enough, Jay walks around the entire vehicle, starts walking although it might wake him in the middle of the night. If it by the gas tank, then whips his head back and sits abruptly next does, he’ll have a pen and paper ready. n to the cotton ball.

“Good boy!” says Gaona enthusiastically. He throws the tug toy in the air and the two aggressively pull back and forth on it for a few minutes.

When we get back to the police department offices, Gaona meets with UTMB interim police chief and assistant director of the UT System Police Department, Ruben Puente, about developing updated “Go” bags for officers. Go bags contain personal protection equipment such as gloves, arm coverings and gas masks.

“Right now, what we have is heavy and not functional for everyday use,” he explains. “I’m working with Environmental Health and Safety to come up with lightweight, disposable kits, so when we come across biological or chemical issues—substances like fentanyl [a synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine] can be deadly even in tiny amounts—we can easily slip on gloves and arm sleeves to protect ourselves and

impact

JUNE 2018

DID YOU KNOW? The University of Texas System Police Department protects the UT academic and health institutions across the state of Texas. Learn more about these dedicated professionals by watching this video: https://utmb.us/2q7.

9

GO O D NE WS

Celebrating Employees More than 1,700 honored at annual Employee Service Day event

BY SHANNON PORTER

It’s no secret UTMB is comprised of some of the most outstanding employees, but on May 16, more than 1,700 were celebrated for reaching important milestones in their careers during the annual Employee Service Day ceremony in Levin Hall.

Collectively, the employees honored at the event represented 20,390 years of service to UTMB and its mission. Special service pins were presented in five-year increments, with 45 years being the longest tenure honored at the ceremony. In addition, 656 GEM card recipients were recognized for “Going the Extra Mile” in their daily activities.

Decades of Dedication Donna Sollenberger, executive vice president and chief executive officer for the UTMB Health System, recognized four employees who have been with UTMB for 45 and 40 years respectively.

45 YEARS Dr. Marc Shabot is a professor of Internal Medicine and the vice chair for Alumni Affairs and Development. He has devoted his career to teaching, patient care and administration of departmental and education activities, and has published in the areas of gastrointestinal ulcer disease and gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis.

He has served on more than 40 UTMB committees over the years, most of which involve patient care or medical education.

In addition, he was responsible for organizing the UTMB Department of Internal Medicine Alumni Society in 1991, and for nurturing its growth since that time.

40 YEARS Dr. Naseem Ansari, a highly regarded expert in biochemistry and molecular biology, has focused her research on oxidative stress and inflammation in burns and a better understanding of the biochemical mechanisms of oxidation- and inflammation-induced pathologies.

40 YEARS Robert “Dusty” Norwood, director of Record Management Compliance at UTMB, is responsible for maintaining an active and ongoing records management program to preserve and protect state records in an efficient and economical manner.

He works with all university departments to develop and certify UTMB’s Records Retention Schedule, and he develops policies, directives and instructional materials to govern the organization, maintenance and disposition of records at our institution.

Norwood became the university’s first records management officer in 1992.

The Highest Degree of Professionalism Robert Hastedt, nurse manager of the Medical Intensive Care Unit/Cardiac Unit, received the 2018 Katherine Leone Award for Administrative Excellence.

The award recognizes a manager or supervisor at UTMB who displays the highest degree of professionalism, with a monetary prize of $7,500: $2,500 for the winning manager and $5,000 for developing and training in his or her department.

Sollenberger presented the award to Hastedt, who is described as both a manager and a leader in his role as a nurse manager in the MICU/CCU, a position he’s held since 2014.

In his four years in this role, Hastedt’s nominators said he has exemplified administrative excellence, demonstrating the values and standards found in the UTMB Professionalism Charter as well as UTMB’s core values.

The Leone Award, established in 1971, is made possible through an endowment from Dr. Nicholas Leone, a former commanding officer and director of the Public Health Service Hospital in Galveston, and his wife, Katherine. n

Over the years, Ansari has trained more than 40 post-doctoral fellows and students and has mentored numerous graduate and medical students.

40 YEARS Dr. Masood Ahmad is a professor of Internal Medicine and the Edward D. and Sally M. Futch Endowed Professor in Cardiology.

He has served as director of UTMB’s Cardiac Echocardiography Laboratory since 1982 and was named professor in 1990. His research is focused on non-invasive imaging in evaluation of left ventricular function, stress echocardiography and 3-D echocardiography.

He has been responsible for teaching and training fellows and assisting technologists in routine stress Doppler echocardiograph studies and interpretation.

10

From left: Dr. Naseem Ansari, Dr. Marc Shabot, Josette Armendariz-Batiste (department manager of Leone Award winner), Leone Award winner Robert Hastedt and Dusty Norwood. (Not pictured, Dr. Masood Ahmad).

JUNE 2018

impact

EDUCATI ON

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences awards 39 degrees

BY KURT KOOPMANN

UTMB’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences awarded 39 degrees during its commencement ceremony May 18 in Levin Hall.

Each year, a highlight of the school’s commencement is the presentation of four prestigious awards.

The Graduate Student Organization presented its Distinguished Teaching Award to Thomas Smith, professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology. The organization presents the award annually to a faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to the academic growth and development of students.

Cell Biology and Anatomy; and Nutrition and Metabolism. Volpi was recognized for her prominent global reputation in metabolism research within the important field of aging. Volpi serves as the director of the Sealy Center on Aging and the UTMB Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. She is also the Daisy Emery Allen Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Medicine.

Victor Reyes received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2018.

A member of the school’s 1986 class, today Reyes is professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Immunology at UTMB. He returned to his alma mater in 1992 after completing postdoctoral training. His career steadily advanced over the following decades as he successfully balanced teaching and service responsibilities with research activities. Reyes received the award for his steadfast dedication and the great prestige he has brought to the university.

Alice Hill, director of the nursing doctorate program, received the Distinguished Faculty Service Award. Hill is also professor and associate dean for graduate programs within the School of Nursing. She received the award for her 30-year record of service and The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences awarded 39 degrees on May 18. dedication to graduate education in nursing at UTMB. Hill was instrumental in developing the nursing doctorate The 2018 commencement mace bearer was Owen Hamill, an associate proprogram, and led the successful initiative to move it to an online instruction plat- fessor in the department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Anatomy. Hamill form. Hill is also the John P. McGovern Chair in the Healing Practices of Nursing. also serves as director of the GSBS neuroscience program.

The Distinguished Faculty Research Award was presented to Dr. Elena Volpi, Hamill led the graduates in reciting the Biomedical Scientist’s Oath during the professor in the departments of Internal Medicine (Geriatrics); Neuroscience, ceremony. n

Name: Dr. Matt Dacso UTMB Talent: Associate Professor of Internal Medicine Hidden Talent: Jazz saxophonist Name: Richard Briley UTMB Talent: Software System Specialist II, Office of Clinical Simulation Hidden Talent: Trumpet player Above, Dr. Matt Dacso, second from left. Below, Dr. David Flores (far left) and Richard Briley (second from left).

Dr. Matt Dacso has taken his love of music from playing in jazz groups on Galveston Island all the way to starting jazz groups on the other side of the world.

In fact, Dr. Dacso’s afro-jazz group, the Trans-Kalahari Quintet—which is based in Botswana in Southern Africa—has recorded three albums together. He says he still travels to Africa to record and play gigs, and has had the opportunity to record with several other Botswana-based jazz artists.

Richard Briley is also a talented musician, playing the trumpet in the Galveston Island Jazz Project. Other members of the performing group include Dr. David Flores, who works in UTMB’s Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, and Dr. Dacso.

impact

JUNE 2018

11

Emergency Prep Tips The June 1 start of hurricane season makes emergency preparedness a hot topic for those of us on the Gulf Coast. But as we all know, emergencies that disrupt our ability to fulfill our mission—and which affect our families and homes—can happen at any time and at any of our locations throughout the state.

With that in mind, the following is a list of actions you can take now to be ready at work and at home.

• Become familiar with your department’s emergency plan and your role in an emergency.

• Talk with your supervisor or faculty advisor about your emergency responsibilities and/or procedures for reporting to work/school during an emergency.

• Become familiar with UTMB’s Institutional Emergency Operations Plan.

• Visit Employee Self Service/Personal Information (access via “Employee Self Serv/Paycheck” link on iUTMB) to check and update the following. This information is vital to our ability to determine who is affected by a particular emergency, on or off UTMB property. This ensures UTMB knows how to reach you and your personal emergency contacts when needed and supports our efforts to better target emergencyrelated messages in the future: —— Your UTMB Directory information—particularly your work location (L-code) —— Your personal information, such as home address and home contact information —— Your emergency contacts (the family members or friends UTMB should contact if you become seriously ill or injured at work or if we are unable to reach you during a large-scale emergency)

• Know where to get updates. Decisions about UTMB’s operations are communicated in a variety of ways depending on the severity of the emergency, including email to academic program leaders,

managers or all employees; the Alerts website; iUTMB; social media, including I Am UTMB and UTMB Health pages on Facebook and @UTMBHealth on Twitter; and our UTMB Alerts emergency notification service, as appropriate.

• Check your contact and location information in the UTMB Alerts emergency notification system via the UTMB Directory. All employees and students are automatically enrolled in UTMB Alerts with their university phone and/ or email address. We recommend that you also add your mobile number to receive UTMB Alerts messages via text and/or mobile phone call, to ensure you get notifications as quickly as possible, no matter where you are. Be sure at least two contact methods are listed for you.

• Keep computer security in mind. Never reveal your UTMB login information to anyone, and be suspicious of emails asking you to enter your login information.

• WEAR your ID badge every day at all UTMB locations, so University Police, members of the public and, if needed, emergency responders will know you belong.

• Enroll in Direct Deposit and MyChart, to ensure access to both your paycheck and your UTMB medical records in an emergency.

• Develop an emergency plan for your home that takes into account care and safety of dependents and pets.

UTMB offers a number of emergency preparedness resources to help you plan on the job and at home. Visit www.utmb.edu/emergency_plan to view materials from the 2018 UTMB Emergency Preparedness Meeting, preparedness checklists, related forms and emergency-related policies. You can also learn more about UTMB’s Institutional Emergency Operations Plan and the business continuity planning process for ensuring our ability to fulfill our mission, no matter the challenge. The HR Adverse Events Toolkit also provides a number of resources. n

UTMB TRIVIA Located on UTMB’s Galveston Campus, the Ashbel Smith Building—also known as Old Red—was the first building completed on the campus and it was used to support the state’s first medical school.

In 1949, the iconic building, with its red brick and sandstone, was named for Ashbel Smith, a Republic of Texas diplomat and one of the founders of the University of Texas System. Who was the famed architect who designed Old Red, and what year was it completed?

Send your answer to impact.newsletter@ utmb.edu and be entered into a drawing to win a UTMB swag bag. Good luck!

Answer to May trivia question: Two. Dr. Thomas Jackson and Dr. William Gammon were the only medical school graduates in 1893. For years, the two friends argued over who was top of the class.

Congrats to Ashiriha Elhodiguy, a UTMB/CMC nurse at the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg, Texas, who won the May trivia!