1. Frankie Hurst RN, BSN, CFRN, has been elected to one of two At-Large Director positions for the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) Nominations Committee Board of Directors. Hurst is a Program Manager for AirMed at the University of Utah and has been involved with the air medical industry for 12 years. To read more about the position visit http://goo.gl/1fJ4mb.
2. The ITS department for University of Utah Health Care was recognized as one of the Nation's Most Wired Hospitals for 2015 by the American Hospital Association's Health Forum and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). The 2015 Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study, in partnership with CHIME and sponsored by VMware, is a leading industry barometer measuring information technology (IT) use and adoption among hospitals nationwide. The survey of more than 741 participants, representing more than 2,213 hospitals, examined how organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance for value-based health care in the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management, quality and safety, and clinical integration.
3. An essay submitted by University of Utah faculty, entitled Lean Application in Documenting Patient Education for Meaningful Use, has been awarded 1st Place paper by the research awards judging team of the Medical Library Association in Austin. This award will be displayed in the August issue of the Hypothesis: The Journal of the MLA Research Section and via MLA Focus. (Authors include: Madeline Araya, Systems Analyst III, UUHC; Darrin Doman, Staff Development Educator, Clinical Staff Education, UUHC; Erica Lake, Associate Director, Hope Fox Eccles Health Library; Jessi Van Der Volgen, Trainer/Curriculum and Content Specialist, National Library of Medicine Training Center; and Jean P. Shipman, Director, Spencer S. Eccles Health Science Library.
4. The University of Utah has announced the 2015 nominees for the 2015 Staff Excellence Awards from the Health Sciences and Hospital districts. The Staff Excellence Awards recognize superior service and ongoing contributions by the University of Utah's full-time staff employees. Of this group of 14, nine come from the Hospitals and Clinics District and five from the Academic Health Sciences District. Below are this year's nominees within our districts.
Hospitals & Clinics District
- Debbi Green, Clinical Nurse, Huntsman Cancer Hospital
- Derek Larsen, Multimedia Project Administrator, Project Development (Nursing)
- Maiko Taguchi, Project Administrator, Project Development (Nursing)
- Rachel Wright, Senior Pharmacy Buyer, Pharmacy
- Dev Dhungel, Custodian, Environmental Services
- Todd Selmer, Case Manager, Acute Internal Medicine
- Renn Butterfield, Administrative Services Coordinator, Graduate Medical Education
- Steve Christensen, Patient Services Coordinator, Rocky Mountain Ophthalmology
- Joshua Ducourant, Lead Systems Maintenance Mechanic, South Jordan Health Center
Academic Health Sciences District
- Christopher Harris, Administrative Program Coordinator, School of Medicine, Dean's Office
- Stacey Kirkland, Fellowship Program Manager, Division of Gastroenterology
- Jennifer Lawson, Lab Specialist, Human Genetics
- Randy Madsen, Senior Technical Lead, School of Medicine, BMIC CCTS
- Michael Yei, Manager, Outreach, Ophthalmology
5. Dr. Steve White, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, has received the Ambassador for Epilepsy Award from the International League Against Epilepsy. This award is intended as recognition of outstanding international contributions to activities advancing the cause of epilepsy, either internationally or with international impact. It is given biannually at the IEC. Dr. White received this award for his leadership of the Antiepileptic Drug Development Program and the NIH-sponsored Anticonvulsant Screening Project has kept the University of Utah at the center of the epilepsy community's attention for the creation of new treatments. This award is also due to his role as a central figure in the recruitment of the next generation of translational researchers.
6. Pediatrician, Dr. Carrie Byington, was awarded the 2015 AAMC GWIMS Leadership Award this month. The Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) advances the full and successful participation and inclusion of women within academic medicine by addressing gender equity, recruitment and retention, awards and recognition, and career advancement. Byington was selected for this award due to her successful time and energy spent researching viral and bacterial infections in infants and children. Her research has included the development of new diagnostics, the clinical validation of diagnostics, epidemiology of infectious diseases using molecular diagnostics, and improving health services, including public health, through accurate diagnostics and informatics.
7. University of Utah Health Care is one of only six health systems in the nation to earn the designation "Most Wired Advanced," according to Hospitals & Health Networks' annual "Most Wired" list. The award acknowledges systems with strong data security, advanced analytics, proven patient safety initiatives, exceptional chronic disease management and overall implementation of IT systems. This is the third consecutive year University of Utah Health Care has made the "Most Wired" list.
8. The University of Utah Health Feed Blog has received in honorable mention in PR Daily's 2015 Digital PR and Social Media Awards. The blog was recognized under the category of content marketing/brand journalism. Winning entrances were said to demonstrate "creativity, innovation and brand building brilliance." Read more here: http://prdaily.com/Main/DigitalSocialMediaAwardWinners2015.aspx.