By UTMB COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

UTMB has expanded its Infant Special Care Unit to double its previous size, with a new capacity for up to 55 babies. The expansion features single patient rooms, giving babies and family members privacy and the opportunity for a parent to stay overnight in the baby’s room. Lights stay dimmed in the hallways of the units to promote a tranquil setting, and each room has a window that lets in natural light, which helps regulate the babies’ natural circadian rhythm and is an important factor when transitioning from the hospital to the home.

iPad live translation service

UTMB has recently purchased 26 iPads for Video Remote Interpretation to be used throughout the hospital. The tablets offer patients on-demand video language interpretation services with a live person. They help staff ensure that patients who require an interpreter have access to services even when staff or department interpreters cannot be present in person. The most common languages accessed at UTMB are Spanish and American Sign Language, but a total of 12 video languages are available, based on regional demand. If a patient requires a language that is not included in the program, a separate audio interpretation service is available in more than 200 languages.

Daisy Award winner

UTMB nurse Lucie Gold recently received a Daisy Award for her rapid response when a patient began to deliver a baby before she was able to get to the maternity unit. A bystander flagged Gold down and stated that a woman was yelling in pain and appeared to be pregnant. Gold recruited other nurses passing by and asked them to immediately call for more help from the Labor and Delivery team. She placed the patient on a bench so that she could deliver the baby safely. Gold comforted the young mother throughout the entire process, even after the baby was delivered and more help arrived.

UTMB physician assistant alumnus earns national recognition

Nima M. Pourrajabi, who graduated from UTMB’s Physician Assistant Program and is employed at College Station Medical Center, is one of only 240 certified physician assistants nationally to recently earn a Certificate of Added Qualifications from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Pourrajabi was awarded a CAQ in Emergency Medicine, a distinction earned by meeting licensure, education and experience requirements and passing an exam in the specialty. He is one of only 52 certified PAs in Texas and approximately 800 certified PAs nationally to earn a CAQ since the program’s inception in 2011.

Beanies for babies

Fifth graders from Trinity Episcopal School delivered more than 80 hand-knit hats to the newborn nursery in John Sealy Hospital. Nurses and new parents alike were thrilled to receive the hats. Covering the head with a hat after birth effectively reduces the loss of body heat in newborns. Kelly Schaffer, the fifth grade teacher at Trinity, who had a baby at UTMB last February, said she thought knitting hats for the newborns in the hospital would be a great project for the students.

Inside UTMB is compiled by the communications department at the University of Texas Medical Branch.