By UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH
Dr. Nikolaos Vasilakis, one of the foremost experts on the Zika virus, is the keynote speaker this week at the International Symposium HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Marseille, France. Vasilakis’ presentation is titled “The Zika virus: a new threat.” The general theme at the conference is “Fighting Deadly Viruses Around the World.”
Stroke success
The stroke programs at the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston campus and the medical branch’s Angleton Danbury campus have received the American Heart Association’s “Get with the Guidelines” Bronze Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes hospitals that have demonstrated at least 85 percent compliance in each of the seven Get with the Guidelines — Stroke Achievement Measures for 90 consecutive days.
Student volunteers
The Office of Student Life and the Student Government Association recently hosted the annual “United to Serve” event. More than 230 students volunteered their time at more than 15 sites around Galveston County, where they cleaned up beaches, assisted with a 5K run, fixed up community gardens, helped at two local free clinics and painted faces and ran games at the Grand Kids Festival.
League City campus hospital opens next week
The medical branch will open its full-service hospital, complete with inpatient and emergency care, at the expanded League City Campus on June 4. For details, photos and a map of the new facility, visit www.utmb.edu/league-city-campus.
So get up and walk
Barbara Bonificio, director of nursing excellence, and Karen Chapman, director of rehabilitation services, recently spoke about their project to maintain the mobility of hospitalized patients who were moving around before being admitted. They spoke at the UT System “Shared Visions Conference” in San Antonio. Their “Get Up and Walk” pilot program encourages patients to have supervised, scheduled walks twice a day with a dedicated mobility technician to minimize the effects of bed rest.