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Hospital Supplies Storeroom Returns to Hospital

Since Hurricane Ike, the Hospital Supplies Team has been operating out of the Materials Management Warehouse. On October 6th they officially opened their new storeroom, located on the first floor of John Sealy Annex, Room M119 (formerly the Blood Bank Center). A perfect example of ‘Working together to work wonders’; FOAM Construction worked with Hospital Supplies Management to get the team back to the hospital, where they can better serve their customers. On October 22nd the Hospital Supplies team hosted an open house, inviting their customers to join them in celebration of their move back to the hospital. • The Hospital Supplies Team stocks 106 Omnicells, located on campus, Victory Lakes Specialty Care,

Bay Colony Clinics, and Austin Women’s Hospital • Approximately $4,000,000 of supplies are used through the Omnicells each year • Approximately 5,100 patient care items are issued each day through the Omnicells • The team processes and delivers around 400 orders for the nursing units each week, over and above

what is stocked in the Omnicells • The Hospital Supplies Team is made up of 28 employees, with over 440 years of service to UTMB

Bob Colarich, Manager

Sheila Dennis

Rita Allen

Debra Wilson

Michael Bradford, Supervisor

Teague Bledsoe

Business Operations and Facilities Employee News—Holiday Edition

December 16, 2010 Volume 2, Number 3

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The Library Coffee Shop Reopens

The Library Coffee shop has reopened with Baristas Dawn, Celia, Marsha, and Paula. Mod Coffee and Tea House has opened the coffee shop, partnering with Morrison and UTMB. Owner Angela Brown is on site greeting all of her guests. Angela is committed to making sure

your experience, and every cup of coffee you buy, are made with that special touch just for you. Look for the same delicious Fair Trade coffee, espresso, lattes, freezes, Chai teas, and yummy goodies (home-baked in our kitchen) as you would find at Mod Coffee and Tea House on Post Office Street. Stop by MOD, where you can grab FREE Wifi with your favorite coffee or espresso drink.

Customers sit at 1950’s UTMB lab tables

Bill Robertson, Angela Brown, Ken McManus

Marty Cantu, Retail Manager; Angela Brown, Mod Coffee; Stephen Ascencios, Executive Chef; Bill Robertson, Director Food Services; Ken McManus, Mod Coffee



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On Tuesday, November 9th, Neal Cooper and Ken Steblein represented UTMB at Rice University’s Shell Center for Sustainability conference: “Sustainability Pay$- The Copenhagen Experience”. The workshop was introduced by represen-tatives from The Royal Danish Embassy, and the American Danish Business Council, who presented some of the best examples to reflect on the path Denmark has followed to reduced its carbon emissions to zero or less in some cities, and to make it the most energy efficient country in the European Economic Union. The morning session presented speakers Peter Rathje and Soren Hermansen who focused on municipalities that have become carbon neutral, and what it required

of leaders to make it happen. The afternoon session, was just as interesting. Business aspects were presented as representatives from Danish corporations discussed the technology to assist in implementa-tion of these bold initiatives which allowed Denmark to achieve their aggressive goals. The lunch speaker was a retired Admiral from the U.S. Navy who spoke on the U.S. government’s increased focus on energy management and the use of renewable resources. It was a very informa-tive workshop that seemed to underscore the global truth in UTMB’s tag line: “Working together to work wonders”.

- Neal Cooper

Sustainability Pay$ - The Copenhagen Experience

May the magic of the holidays be with you and your family.

Jeff Bonnardel

Executive Director, Supply Chain Chief Purchasing Agent



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Eco-Friendly Christmas Trees There are many reasons you might want to skip a traditional Christmas tree and look for alternatives. Maybe you’ve just moved into a smaller home and there is no room for a tree…..or it could be you don’t want to cut a live tree! Whatever the reason, do some creative thinking and make your own unique tree! • House plants like Weeping Fig, or a Norfolk Island Pine make great trees

• Recycle bottles or cans to make your tree • Use a tree branch to make a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree • Make a tree of lights using a pole in the center and string lights from the top to anchors on the bottom • Quilt a tree to hang on the wall using scrap fabric. Stitch on buttons, old jewelry and ribbons for decorations • Make a tree from candles • Use fresh fruit to construct a tree, with a pineapple for the top. Eat your tree when Christmas is over! • Recycle old Christmas cards or sheet music. Fold them to make an origami tree • Create a pyramid out of an easel, old books or an-other collection you might have • Decorate a potted herb like rosemary; they do great in coastal gardens so you can plant it later and use trim-mings for cooking • Remember the good old days when we made trees and angels from Readers Digests or phone books?



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The Gus and Lyndall Wortham Fountain

The Wortham Fountain provides a space for reflection amid the bustle of UTMB’s education, research and patient care endeavors. Its quiet simplicity gives expression to the commitment to human life that takes place within the walls of the buildings that surround it. Located in the heart of the UTMB campus, near the Ashbel Smith Building and the Lee Hage Jamail Stu-dent Center, the fountain was made possible by a donation from the Wortham Foundation of Houston.

Wishing you all a very happy and safe holiday season. Patrick Michaelski Director Facilities Business Operations

Around the table: Robbie Bourgeois, James Honsinger, Jeff Bonnardel, Melissa Hernandez, Kristin Socias and Gwen Taylor

Breakfast by Lantern Light When we got to work the morning our ‘Breakfast With Bonnardel’ meeting was scheduled, we found we had no electricity in the building. But that didn’t stop Catering from delivering our breakfast, and it didn’t stop Logistics from holding our monthly meeting. Basil Arnold and Greg Rozycki dug into our emergency supplies, and we held our meeting by lantern-light! In attendance were Robbie Bourgeois and Melissa Hernandez from Central Purchasing; Gwen Taylor, Clinical Purchasing; Kristin Socias, Data Analytics; Buck Bradford, Delivery; and James Honsinger, Inventory. The purpose of these monthly meetings is to give employees the opportunity to share information from their areas with each other, as well as ask any questions they may have. Most of this meeting was spent getting to know each other better. Logistics is spread across campus, and we even have team members in Webster! Many times we work together over the phone, but don’t have the opportunity to sit face to face and visit. It is always helpful to know who you are talking to, and get an idea of their jobs, and challenges they face. I don’t know if it was the lantern light, or just the mood., but we all left the meeting feeling we knew each other a little better, and ready to tackle our challenges for the day. We may just turn off the lights, and pull out the lanterns from now on!



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UTMB Gift Shop Reopens

More than two years ago our gift shop was decimated by Hurricane Ike. Now it’s back, and better than ever! While the look of the shop has changed, they still carry great gifts and personal items, as well as snacks and drinks. They have also added plenty of new items, and have a different special featured each week. Stop in when you are over in the hospital!

Gift Shop Hours Monday—Friday 7:00 am to 9:00 pm Saturday—Sunday 9:00 am to 8:00 pm

May you and your family have a happy and safe holiday season.

Kim McKay

Director, Facilities Planning and Construction

KUDOS • UTMB was granted full approval as a Level 1a Accredited

Bariatric Center by the American College of Surgeons Bari-atric Surgery Center Network. FOAM was very involved with the renovations of the center to comply with regula-tions.

• 25 students completed the Biosafety Training Program in various aspects of theory and hands-on training.

• EHS coordinated and completed the Texas State Fire Mar-shal’s follow up inspection of campus areas for Life Safety Code compliance.

• Repairs to the Gus and Lyndall Wortham fountain were completed.

• Main Street restrooms renovations were completed. • Completed repairs to the solar panels in Garage #4.

Special thanks to everyone who worked on these projects!!!

Family News!!!

Congratulations to Leah Glenn (Logistics Data Analytics Team) on the birth of her baby boy, Griffin James Glenn. Leah, Danny, and their three daughters, wel-comed Griffin on October 21st. Proud grandparents are Bob Colarich (Hospital Sup-plies) and Karen Hutchinson (Communications).

- - - - - - - - -

Kathy Hardy (SAS), has a new granddaughter, Marlee Anne. Marlee was born to parents Kyle and Amber Smith on November 8th at RAF LakenHeath, England.



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Jack Tarpley – EHS – 6th Jerry Prater – Aux. Admin – 19th

Mark Kneip – Utilities – 6th Judy Banks – BSL4 Maintenance – 19th

JoAnn Rocha – Field House – 7th Yolanda Solis – FOAM Admin – 19th

Albert Ortiz – FOAM Admin – 8th Richard Salazar – FOAM West – 19th

Keith Berry – Delivery – 8th Gregory Allen – FOAM Central – 21st

Steve Griffith – Catering – 11th Andrew Best – FOAM Central – 21st

Eric Murray – Parking – 11th Stephanie Darby – Receiving – 23rd

Paul Graham – FOAM Capital – 11th Robert Mendoza – FOAM Construction – 24th

Martin Gonzalez – FOAM Central – 11th Alexander Webber – Utilities – 26th

Larry Owens – FOAM Central – 12th Michael Puccetti – BSL4 Maintenance – 27th

Douglas Washington – Hospital Supplies – 12th Winfred Kelley – FOAM Central – 27th

Theresa Puccetti – Logistics Cylinders – 12th Linda Franks – Utilities – 27th

Ricki Meyer – Utilities – 13th Juan Ovalle – Rap5 Waste Minimization – 27th

Dorothy Lee – Aux. Admin – 14th Dee Zimmerman – EHS – 28th

Daniel Marsh – EHS – 14th Rosa LeBlanc – Dorms – 31st

Louis Banks – Delivery – 14th Carl Isaac – Field House – 31st

Eric Achord – Fleet Services – 15th Herbert Franklin – Rap5 Waste Minimization – 31st

Bob Hirschkorn – Logistics Computer Ops – 16th

December Birthdays



I wish you a holiday season filled with love, happiness and

contentment. Karen Hutchinson Editor

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Recycling Your Christmas Tree GALVESTON, Texas — Christmas trees are more than just symbols of celebration during the holidays. Turned into mulch, they can provide year-round benefits. Each year, more than 32 million Christmas trees are sold in the United States. In a national survey, 93 percent of consumers who used a real Christmas tree recycle theirs in some type of community program. The Galveston Partners in Composting — the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the City of Galveston and Moody Gardens — would like Galveston residents to do their part in helping the environment by turning used trees into mulch. Annually Galveston diverts nearly 1,000 Christmas trees from the local landfill. “We would like to double, or even triple, the number we receive annually,” said Ken Steblein, UTMB recycling coordinator. “The mulch we make from the recycled trees will be used in the Galveston’s landscape during spring planting, but we could use a lot more.” The Christmas tree recycling drive runs through Jan. 14. All live evergreen trees (including flocked trees) will be accepted. Remove all tinsel, lights, decorations and plastic or metal stands. Wood stands are accepted. Here are locations to drop off trees for recycling: UTMB Drop off trees at the open top dumpster at the base of the water tower on the corner of Port Holiday and Harborside drive December 23 – January 14. For more information, please contact Ken Steblein at (409) 747 - 2959. City of Galveston Drop off trees at the City Recycling Center, 702 61st St. The center will be closed Dec. 24-25 and Jan. 1. For information, please contact Keith Ware at (409) 741-4639. The city also will do a curbside and alley pick-up from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., on the following days: Jan 7th – all streets east of 61st Street to First Street. Jan 14th – all streets west of 61st Street to Point San Luis. Trees will be picked up on regular trash days for those that do not set the trees out on the scheduled pick up days.

May you and your loved ones be blessed with joy this

holiday season. Carlos Escobar Associate Vice President Business Operations and Facilities



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