Inside UTMB
In celebration of the holidays, UTMB schools, business areas and administrative offices will close Dec. 24 through Jan. 1. John Sealy Hospital and the Trauma Center never close. All urgent care clinics will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Dec. 24 and noon to 8 p.m. Dec. 26, resuming normal hours thereafter. Island Pediatrics West will be open Dec. 24, 26 and 31 from 8 a.m. to noon. Family Medicine Island West will be open Dec. 27 from 8 to noon. All UTMB clinics are open Dec. 29 and 30. All UTMB departments reopen Jan. 2. Visit www.utmbhealth.com or call the UTMB Access Center at 409-772-2222.
Recycle your Christmas tree
Galveston’s 21st annual Christmas tree Recycling Drive will run through Jan. 19. All live evergreen trees, including flocked trees, along with wood stands, will be accepted. All tinsel, lights, decorations and plastic or metal stands must be removed for recycling. UTMB and the city of Galveston will convert the trees to mulch for use throughout the year. Drop-off sites are at the open-top trash bin at Lindale Park, 400 Marine St., and the Galveston Eco-Center, 702 61st St. (closed Dec. 24-25 and Jan. 1). Call Ken Steblein at 409-747-2959 for more information.
Holiday blood drive
UTMB’s holiday blood drive that runs through Jan. 10 will take a hiatus Dec. 24, 25, 26, 31 and Jan. 1, reopening its doors Jan. 2. Donors may give blood in Galveston from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, in Room 1.120 of John Sealy Hospital adjacent to the patient elevators in the hospital lobby. Tokens for parking in the Administrative Garage are provided to donors. Donations also will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in League City at the UTMB Multispecialty Center at Victory Lakes Town Center, 2660 Gulf Freeway South, Suite 4. For more information, go to www.utmb.edu/bb or call 409-772-4861. .
New Year’s Baby Shower
The Newborn Nursery staff seeks contributions for its ninth annual New Year’s Baby Shower. The wish list includes new items such as baby clothes, lotion, blankets, rattles, teethers, diapers, wipes, monitors, baby bathtubs, car seats, boppy pillows and gift cards for stores that carry baby items. Donation boxes are in the main hospital lobby and J6A Newborn Nursery. Donations will be collected through Dec. 30. The Newborn Nursery staff will make gift baskets for all babies born at UTMB on Jan. 1. For more information, contact Debbie Barrera 409-772-0314, debarrer@utmb.edu, or Jolene LeBlanc 409-772-3350, jmleblan@utmb.edu.
Volunteers sought for bird flu study
The Sealy Center for Vaccine Development is seeking healthy adult volunteers 65 and older to participate in a clinical trial of a new bird flu vaccine. Participants must be available for 14 study visits over an 18-month period. The study will focus on the new bird flu strain that surfaced in China in March 2013. By February 2014, the World Health Organization reported 375 laboratory-confirmed human infections and 115 deaths caused by this new A/H7N9 strain.The UTMB study will test vaccine and antibody therapeutic combinations designed specifically to combat the new strain. For more information contact the SCVD Clinical Trials Group at 409-772-5278, scvd.ctg@utmb.edu or Lori Simon, R.N., 409-747-9240, lasimon@utmb.edu.
Inside UTMB is compiled by the communications department at the University of Texas Medical Branch.