Clinical News and Information

We're ready to serve you, both on the UTMB campus in Galveston and in UTMB’s numerous mainland-based clinics. See clinic locations and services...

For general information about UTMB, visit the university's web site at http://www.utmb.edu. For patient care questions, contact the UTMB Access Center at (409) 772-2222 or toll-free at (800) 917-8906.

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UTMB Cancer Center - Dickinson Clinic celebrates grand opening

The new Cancer Center in Dickinson, located at 2401 W. FM 646, Suite C, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 1, 2009. The clinic is a multidisciplinary oncology clinic, providing hematology and oncology services, gynecological oncology and radiation oncology services, pain management for oncology patients, as well as an infusion suite. For more information, contact the clinic at (281) 337-5134.

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New Family Health Clinic opening in Dickinson Oct. 1

A new Dickinson Family Health Clinic, located at 3828 Hughes Court, Suite 203, will open Oct. 1 and offer comprehensive treatment of adults and children with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart disease, respiratory conditions and acute illnesses such as colds, infections and minor injuries (cuts and sprains). It will also offer well-woman exams, childhood immunizations, occupational and school physicals, and behavioral counseling and psychotherapy.  Get details in the clinic flyer…

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UTMB opens new endovascular suite

Listen as Dr. Lois Killewich, chief of vascular surgery at UTMB, briefly explains the benefits of a new clinical suite at the university that promises to improve outcomes and shorten hospital stays for a wide array of vascular conditions. The endovascular suite, on the Galveston campus of UTMB, is a hybrid suite with state of the art equipment and top-notch staff. In the  two-minute video, she offers a virtual tour of the facility and its equipment. 

 

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UTMB opens new clinics, adds hospital beds

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston continues to expand and extend health care services on the island and on the mainland. Hospital capacity on the island has grown steadily, and there are plans to open an additional 30 beds in the early fall, for a total of 400 beds.

The UTMB Cancer Center recently opened its Galveston Infusion Therapy Clinic on the third floor of the University Hospital Clinics Building, 1005 Harborside Drive in Galveston. The clinic serves patients who receive chemotherapy medications, blood products and other therapies intravenously.

In June, UTMB opened a state-of-the-art endovascular suite in Clear Lake. “It is the only ‘hybrid suite’ south of Clear Lake, which allows for open vascular surgery as well as catheter-based procedures and procedures involving both open surgery and stents,” said Dr. Lois Killewich, professor and interim chief of vascular and endovascular surgery.

A new Dickinson Family Health Clinic, located at 3828 Hughes Court, Suite 203, will open Oct. 1 and offer comprehensive treatment of adults and children with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart disease, respiratory conditions and acute illnesses such as colds, infections and minor injuries (cuts and sprains). It will also offer well-woman exams, childhood immunizations, occupational and school physicals, and behavioral counseling and psychotherapy.

The UTMB Department of Radiology recently opened the Friendswood Imaging Center, 128 W. Parkwood. The comprehensive outpatient facility provides MRI, CT, digital radiography and ultrasound services.

The Women’s Health Center at Bay Colony recently added urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery to its specialty services. Located in Dickinson at Bay Colony Town Center, specialties include diagnosing and treating gynecologic cancer, incontinence, chronic pelvic pain and problems associated with menopause, annual gynecologic screenings and general obstetrics. Urogynecologists provide comprehensive, integrated care, offering patients evaluation and management strategies for disorders affecting the female pelvic floor.

The UTMB Dickinson Cancer Center, which opened earlier this year, will have its ribbon cutting on Oct. 1, at 2401 W. FM 646, Suite C. The center provides hematology and oncology services, gynecological oncology and radiation oncology services, pain management for oncology patients, as well as an infusion suite.

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 UTMB begins testing H1N1 virus vaccine for children 

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which was selected by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to conduct pediatric vaccine trials for the H1N1 (swine flu) virus will begin those trials on Friday, Aug. 28.

Dr. Christine Turley, the principal investigator on the UTMB project, said the virus potentially could affect younger people particularly hard and that there could be another outbreak of the flu now that school has begun, making the trials even more important to families across the nation. The study will measure the body’s immune response to the investigational H1N1 flu vaccine as well as its safety. In addition, the research will help determine how and when the H1N1 flu shot should be given with the seasonal flu shot to make it most effective.

To learn more about the H1N1 vaccine research being conducted at UTMB, please send an e-mail to pedicltl@utmb.edu or call Karen Waterman, Carrie Harrington or Diane Barrett at 409-772-1696.

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“Clinic Connection” e-newsletter available online

The physicians and staff of UTMB’s community clinics produce an electronic newsletter for their patients, Clinic Connection. This e-guide to good health is delivered via email several times a year. This second issue addresses allergies, swine flu preparations, pool safety, and much more. You can view or print the newsletter online. To subscribe for email delivery, send a request with “subscribe” in the subject line to clinics@utmbhealthcare.org.

 

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Discovery may lead to powerful new therapy for asthma 
Human clinical trials next for compounds that block key enzyme

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have found that a single enzyme is apparently critical to most allergen-provoked asthma attacks — and that activity of the enzyme, known as aldose reductase, can be significantly reduced by compounds that have already undergone clinical trials as treatments for complications of diabetes.

The discovery, made in experiments conducted with mice and in human cell cultures, opens the way to human tests of a powerful new treatment for asthma, which today afflicts more than 20 million Americans. Such a development would provide a badly needed alternative to current asthma therapy, which primarily depends on hard-to-calibrate inhaled doses of corticosteroids and bronchodilators, which have a number of side effects. Read more...

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UTMB Austin Women’s Hospital doing the ‘Texas 10-Step’

Austin Women’s Hospital, operated by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, has been designated a 2010 Texas 10-Step Facility by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Hospital Association. This annual designation is awarded to birthing facilities that provide optimal care to improve breastfeeding outcomes. Read more...

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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute sets fall courses

The 2009 fall semester of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston gets under way this month. The college-level courses are open to anyone 55 and older, regardless of previous education. Classes are offered in Galveston, League City and Houston. There are no credits, exams or grades. Tuition is $25 for each course until Sept. 12 and $30 thereafter. Registrants must be members of OLLI. Annual membership in OLLI is $25 and runs through Aug. 31, 2010. Call OLLI at 409-771-9008 to register or for more information. See classes offered anmd read more...

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Legislature appropriates $6 million to fund community-based diabetes prevention program started at UTMB

The 81st Texas Legislative session approved $6 million for the Stark Diabetes Center at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to expand its community-based model for preventing and treating diabetes. Through the efforts of UTMB’s Dr. Kirk Smith, the Stark Diabetes Center will partner with the Texas Diabetes Council to initiate regional community-based prevention and control programs in Cameron, Webb, Nueces and Galveston counties.

The programs will focus on preventing or curbing the symptom of diabetes through lifestyle changes that include diet and exercise. The Stark model delivers comprehensive diabetes prevention at a cost of $21.50 per at-risk individual per year, compared to an average cost of $12,000 per year to treat an individual with diabetes. Read more...

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UTMB reopened emergency room August 1

The emergency room at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston reopened at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1. The facility closed last year when Hurricane Ike hit Galveston on Sept. 13. The emergency room is receiving patients by both ground and air ambulance and offers the same level of trauma care it did prior to Hurricane Ike except for psychiatric care. (Because UTMB no longer has inpatient facilities to serve psychiatric patients, those needing psychiatric services are being transferred to other facilities). UTMB had been operating a 24-hour urgent care clinic to serve patients with minor injuries and conditions that do not require hospitalization; that clinic closed when the emergency room opened. UTMB officials estimate that 44,000 people will be treated this year at the emergency room. Read the full article in the UTMB Newsroom or watch a video about the ER reopening.

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Sollenberger named to head UTMB Health System
Dr. David L. Callender, president of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, has named Donna K. Sollenberger to be executive vice president and chief executive officer for the UTMB Health System. Sollenberger, who is chief executive officer of the Baylor Clinic and Hospital and executive vice president of Baylor College of Medicine, will assume her new duties at UTMB Sept. 14. Read more...

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New UTMB after-hours pediatric clinic

The pediatric urgent care clinic, located at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, relocated on Saturday, Aug. 1 to 2027 61st Street in Galveston as an after-hours pediatric urgent care clinic. The clinic is open weekdays from 5:30 to 10 p.m., weekends from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and holidays from noon to 8 p.m.
The after-hours urgent care clinic treats children with cuts, coughs, scrapes, colds, fever, minor sports injuries, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, earaches, dehydration and abdominal pain. For more serious injuries, the UTMB emergency room is available. For information on the clinic, call 409-772-3695.

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Babies, Babies, Babies
UTMB’s Labor & Delivery had a busy day recently when 17 babies were delivered in 12 hours. Hear about this remarkable day from some of the great nurses and staff who helped make it happen, in a video in the UTMB Newsroom or onYouTube. (Click HD in YouTube for best quality.)

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UTMB offers online prescription refill request service

UTMB and the UTMB Access Center are launching a new service to enhance convenience for UTMB patients: refill requests for routine medications may now be made online, via a secure form on this web site. While the form may not be used for new prescriptions or certain classes of drugs including narcotics, pain or sleep medications, or antibiotics, it is well suited to patients taking medications for chronic ailments such as diabetes, heart problems or high blood pressure. You can try the online prescription refill request now...

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For general information about UTMB, visit the university's web site at http://www.utmb.edu. For patient care questions or assistance, contact the UTMB Access Center at (409) 772-2222 or toll-free at (800) 917-8906.