President’s Cabinet Awards 

For more than 30 years, the President's Cabinet has provided a vehicle for UTMB and the community to work together to support these promising initiatives to improve health and well-being.

  • Baby Steps - Aiming to Improve Pregnancy Care

    Jacob Moran, MD, PhD
    Benjamin Bush, MD
    Leah Saylor, MD
    Sangeeta Jain, MD
    Kathleen Vincent, MD

    Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

    Despite the advanced, high quality medical care available in the United States, disparities in birth outcomes still exist. This program aims to develop a group-care model for prenatal care with goals to improve overall patient satisfaction and health literacy related to pregnancy and the postpartum period and reducing potentially preventable adverse outcomes such as preterm birth, low birth weight and infant mortality.  Year one will start spring 2025 and focus on Galveston's Regional Women Service and Pediatrics clinics (RWSP).  Year two will expand into the RWSP clinics in the Beaumont area.

  • Child Safety Seat Program

    Lt. Shawn Carr
    UTMB Police Department

    For many years, the UTMB Police Department has assisted patients and visitors with the proper installation of child safety seats. In addition to making sure the seats are installed correctly and secured, the department has also provided low-income families of infants born to UTMB hospitals in Galveston and Clear Lake with a seat free of charge.  To continue this effort, President's Cabinet funds will purchase 100 seats with the ability to serve up to 100 families for the next two years.

  • Pediatric Toy Box for Day Surgery

    Lindsey Eustace, Nurse Clinician IV
    UTMB Victory Lakes Surgery-PreOp & PACU

    Pediatric patients undergoing surgery experience heightened stress and anxiety, impacting their well-being and recovery process. The Pediatric Toy Box initiative provides a diverse selection of age-appropriate toys, books and activities within the UTMB Victory Lakes Day Surgery Unit to provide appropriate distractions and a supportive and comforting environment for children.

     

  • Public Health Summer Camp for Galveston County Adolescents

    Cara Pennel, DrPH, MPH
    Leslie Stalnaker, MPH
    School of Public and Population Health Administration

    Public health is an essential part of our everyday lives and the health of individuals and communities. Because public health careers are not often represented to middle and high school students as career options, this project aims to establish a Public Health Summer Camp. To be implemented in summer 2025, this two-week camp will be open to 25 adolescents from Galveston County public schools.  UTMB graduate students will run the camp and introduce the youth to a broad spectrum of public health topics and the various organizations/agencies working to improve public health locally.  Field trips, educational materials and books will be integrated into the camp.

  • St. Vincent's Vasectomy Clinic: Expansion Project

    Kelli Gilliam, MS2
    Brian Liao, MS3
    John Sealy School of Medicine

    An influx of referrals from St. Vincent's primary care providers to the vasectomy clinic highlighted the growing demand for services within the community and underscored the necessity of proposed enhancements to meet the need effectively. Through this President's Cabinet project, enhancements to the clinic include broadening diagnostic and treatment capacities, transportation, lodging support and health education materials.  The clinic will have the ability to perform more procedures per month, allow for unexpected costs, and expand the diagnostic and treatment capabilities for general urology patients.

  • The Care Partner Project: Patient Safety Videos

    Meredith Masel, PhD
    The Oliver Center for Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

    Each year more than 700,000 people in the United States fall in the hospital setting and over 1.7 million develop sepsis. Many of these cases are preventable with good patient safety programs.  This initiative will co-develop videos for patient safety with The Care Partner Project.  These visual demonstrations, coupled with clear explanations, will enhance comprehension and retention of key patient messages (how to prepare for a hospital stay, how to track details during a hospital stay, infections, falls, discharge, daily living needs, etc). Ten videos will be produced and made available on UTMB websites and on TV monitors in patient rooms.

Awards by Year