Overview • Press Releases •
Speaker Requests • Publications

CENTERVIEWS
A Publication of The University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center

Monday, December 6, 2004

In This Issue:
Employee Relations Committee Corner
Houston Rockets Tickets Available
ADT Statistics for October 2004
Distinguished Professional Woman's Award Banquet
GroupWise Email System To Be Replaced
Research In-service Scheduled
Toy Drive
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Lecture Series
SECC Campaign A Success
Legislative Communications
HIPAA Violator Will Serve Prison Time
Bio-Terrorism Funds Received

Employee Relations Corner
Welcome to the Employee Relations Committee Corner, a new addition to CenterViews.

For those who are unfamiliar, the Employee Relations Committee is committed to developing employee enthusiasm and is committed to promoting harmonious relations between staff resulting in the promotion of a positive and productive work environment.

This year’s officers are: Gene McCardle, Chair; Jennifer Ray, Co-Chair; Lupe Martinez, Communications Officer; Lucy Albidrez, Secretary and Brenda York, Treasurer. Other committee members include Richard Martinez, Patty Stone, Maria Mack, Kathy Hoskins, Don Booker, Cassandra Barre, Alice Mahdi, Wendell Fisher, Michelle Kenney, Norma Strength, Juanita Lundy, Brenda Pierre, Mil Aller, Betty Holman and Shelly Rodriguez.

The ERC sponsors numerous events, including the UTHCPC Holiday Party (scheduled for December 15, 16 and 18, depending upon shift), the Valentines Day event, Go Texan Day and other events. In addition, they sponsor the Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year, soliciting nominations from all UTHCPC staff.

Richard Martinez, chair of the Pumpkin Contest, sends out a thank you to all who participated in this year’s event. Special thanks to Lucy Albidrez, Doug Beer, Darlene Butler, Troy Contreras, Sylvia Contreras, Vicki Correa, Rosa Dixson, Greg Gigax, Joan Gun, Quentin Jenkins, Joan Lohmuller, Juanita Lundy, Lupe Martinez, Gene McCardle, Robert Mcluellan, Jennifer Ray, Chris Morales, Carmen Presiado, Shelly Rodriguez and Diane Winkler. First place went to Public Information and Psychology, Debbie Garcia, Melissa Benevides and Carolyn Diesze; Second place went to Performance Improvement’s Gene McCardle and Lucy Albidrez and Third place went to Patient Registration’s Rosa Dixson, Sheila Thomas and Carmen Presario. Additional gift bag winners were Facilities Management’s Chris Morales and Volunteer Services’ Carol Rone, Lucy Scott, and Esther Sherman.
To see photos of this year’s winning entries, click here

The ERC website is located at: http://hcpc.uth.tmc.edu/ERC/erc.htm Please visit it to read about upcoming events.

Houston Rockets Tickets Available
The health science center family is invited to take advantage of group sales ticket prices to Houston Rockets' home games: To order tickets contact Tom McKenna, (713) 758-7264, fax (713) 758-7343,online at http://www.vatickets.com

Order by Friday, Dec. 3, to see the Rockets vs. the San Antonio Spurs, 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 9. Online password UT2

Order by Friday, Jan. 7, to see the Rockets vs. the San Antonio Spurs, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 15. Online password UT3

Order by Monday, Jan. 17, to see the Rockets vs. the Orlando Magic, 7:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 24. Online password UT4

Order by Friday, Jan. 28, to see the Rockets vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 6. Online password UT5

Order by Friday, March 18, to see the Rockets vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m., Thurs., March 24 Password UT6

ADT Statistics for October 2004
Total Admits: 495
Total Discharges: 472
Total Patient Days: 5,539
Total Discharge Days: 5,619

All calculations based on 203 staffed beds
* Average LOS for UTHCPC excluding Extended Care, Sub Acute and Research: 7.3

Distinguished Professional Woman's Award Banquet
The Committee on the Status of Women Distinguished Professional Woman's Award Banquet will be Wednesday, Dec. 8, at the Edwin Hornberger Conference Facility, 2151 W. Holcombe.

Mary DesVignes-Kendrick, M.D., deputy director for the Center of Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness at the School of Public Health, is this year’s award recipient. She was nominated by Guy Parcel, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Public Health.

The banquet also recognizes the winners of the President's Mentor Awards for faculty, administrative and professional (A&P) and classified staff. The 2004 recipients are: Faculty — Nancy Murray, Ph.D., School of Public Health; A & P — Paula Knudson, Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects; and Classified Staff — Debra Wallis, Medical School.

The banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. with a cash bar, followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. Contact: Chanda.M.Kerlegon@uth.tmc.edu, (713) 500-3063 for banquet information or ticket purchases.

GroupWise Email System To Be Replaced
The UTHSCH has scheduled UTHCPC for replacement of our email system. The conversion will take place after the New Year. Since UTH will limit the number of megabytes to 200 per user, all UTHCPC employees should go through their emails and delete whatever is not needed. All email folders should also be cleaned out. If this is not done, those mailboxes that exceed the 200 MB limit at UTH will not be able to receive incoming e-mail or send messages out until they fall under the limit. The incoming messages will be returned to the sender. Please delete 100 messages at a time so we do not slow our system down or crash it. Also remember to clean out your trash folder in the e-mail system. This will also improve the conversion process.

Research In-service Scheduled
A Research In-service presented by Dr. Alan Swann, entitled "What is Research and Why do we do it?” will be held Wednesday, December 8 at 2:30 pm in the HWE Auditorium.

Toy Drive
The UT Police Department is accepting new, unwrapped toys and gifts until Friday, Dec. 17, for mentally and physically ill children in the Houston area.

Items for infants and adolescents are needed most and will be delivered to LBJ Hospital, UT Harris County Psychiatric Center and the Medical School's Department of Internal Medicine's K.I.N.D.E.Rx Clinic. Items may be brought by Room 3A31. For more information, contact Carol Rone at ext 8692.

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Lecture Series
All lectures are held in the MSI Auditorium from 11 am to 12 noon.

SECC Campaign A Success
Thanks to all who donated to the UTH State Employee Charitable Campaign. The prize drawing was held, and Dr. Sharon Morgan drew the following names: Lunch with Dr. Moore and Dr. Grice: Nina Williams and Marie Williams; UTHCPC Gifts: Onyekachi Esiaha and Shelly Rodriguez

Legislative Communications
As members of the Texas Legislature gear up for a new legislative session, the Health Science Center is coordinating communications regarding university priorities and needs. UT Health Science Center President James T. Willerson, M.D., reminds faculty and staff that anyone proposing to meet with state legislators on behalf of or representing the university must have his prior approval. For reference, see HOOP policy 1.21, "Communication with Government Officials".

HIPAA Violator Will Serve Prison Time
This item comes from “This Week In Healthcare”, an industry publication:
The sentencing of the first person convicted of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was sentenced to serve 16 months in prison and pay a fine of $9,000 for violating a patient’s privacy rights. This occurred in Seattle. As a reminder to UTHCPC staff, Compliance and HIPAA Privacy Coordinator Angela Oren or your manager can answer questions you have regarding HIPAA.

Bio-Terrorism Funds Received
UTHCPC has received $62,964.95 grant funding from Homeland Security. The funding will be used for chemical preparedness activities, reported UTHCPC Infection Control Nurse Susan Parnell.