UMMC’s excellence shines in 2023
Published on Tuesday, January 2, 2024
By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu
The University of Mississippi Medical Center was in the spotlight for achievements in care during 2023. From establishing a burn center at UMMC in January to awards placing the Medical Center among the nation’s best hospitals, the past year was filled with memorable milestones.
Among those honors are earning a B from Leapfrog, a national nonprofit that sets standards for excellence in patient care, and the pediatric intensive care unit garnering an American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Beacon Award for Excellence – Silver Level, the only PICU earning the status in Mississippi and one of 20 in the country.
The year was only a month and a half old when Haylee and Shawn Ladner of Purvis became parents of quintuplets at Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants. The four identical girls and their brother – Adalyn Elizabeth, Everleigh Rose, Magnolia Mae, Malley Kate and Jake Easton – were born Feb. 16 and, after Children’s of Mississippi neonatal intensive care, they’re thriving.
In late March, UMMC responded to a devastating tornado in Rolling Fork, providing aid to Mississippians who had lost their homes.
UMMC’s nursing education program celebrated its 75th anniversary during 2023. The program started in 1948 as part of the School of Medicine in Oxford but moved to Jackson in 1956. UMMC nursing education became the School of Nursing in 1958, with Christine Oglevee as its first dean. In June, the School of Nursing broke ground on a new home that will make a 25% enrollment increase possible.
Research made news in 2023, with UMMC experts studying ways to improve care for all Mississippians, including its youngest residents. Medical Center researchers began studies to improve neonatal care and to determine the role of genetics and environment in pediatric gut development and overall health.
Researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center received funding for 311 projects during fiscal year 2023, amassing $96,788,545 in grants, awards and contracts.
Leadership changes happened in the past year. Dr. Jay Garner became the fifth dean of UMMC’s School of Health Related Professions. Dr. Angela Burrell, who served as interim dean following the retirement of Dr. Jessica Bailey in 2022, now chairs the Doctor of Health Administration program. In the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences, Dr. Sydney Murphy became dean.
These are just a few of 2023’s highlights. Read more about the accomplishments of 2023 below.
January
The Mississippi Burn Center at UMMC: ‘We’re the natural place for this’
The University of Mississippi Medical Center treats the state’s sickest of the sick and injured – and that includes burn victims. With the establishment of the Mississippi Burn Center on the Jackson campus, a multidisciplinary team of specialists and providers will care for patients who have suffered significant and severe burns.
Registered nurse Adrian Davis tidies up a trauma room in the Adult Emergency Department at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
February
New cameras a first step toward next-level crime prevention at UMMC, police say
UMMC police officers have new technology to help prevent crime involving vehicles. With built-in safeguards to protect privacy, new cameras will go a long way toward keeping the campus safe and building cooperation with neighboring law enforcement agencies.
Ladner family welcomes quintuplets at UMMC
Haylee and Shawn Ladner’s son and four identical quadruplet girls are growing stronger as neonatal intensive care patients at Children’s of Mississippi. The five babies were born by Caesarean section Feb. 16 at Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants at UMMC.
March
Bienvenidos a Dia Hispano: Welcome to Hispanic Day
It may have been the first time that students visiting the Medical Center were welcomed in two different languages. The inaugural outreach event called Hispanic Day drew scores of mostly high school students from across the state, many of whom are bilingual. Thanks to UMMC faculty, students and administrators, the visitors learned the language of health care as well.
‘That’s what we do in Mississippi’: Medical Center responds to tornado
Within hours of Saturday’s massive tornado strike in the Mississippi Delta, teams of students, physicians, nurses and others from the Medical Center were on the road to Rolling Fork. Many worked for hours without rest, providing medical aid and solace to those who lost everything.
Mississippi Center for Emergency Services staff Will Appleby, center in black shirt, and Jeremy Benson, in black shirt to Appleby's right, help in search and rescue efforts at a Rolling Fork home.
April
The Power of Praise: Matemavi delivers Last Lecture
When Dr. Praise Matemavi took the podium last week to present the 2023 Last Lecture, her task was “to condense 41 years of lessons into 40 minutes.” Although those 41 years are packed with drama, setbacks, near-death experiences and triumphs, somehow she did it. Matemavi, an assistant professor of transplant surgery at UMMC, titled her lecture “Making Life’s Journey Count.”
May
A legacy of patience and humility: Endowed chair named for Rodney and Sara Meeks
Within the OB-GYN community, and often beyond, Dr. G. Rodney Meeks has been all things to all people, including teacher, mentor and friend. Last week, many of those he taught, counseled and befriended gathered for a celebration that, as one of his former students put it, was a testament to greatness.
UMMC awarded NIH funding to help improve newborn health outcomes
Being selected to join the Neonatal Research Network is a “monumental achievement” that will benefit Mississippi’s infants, who have the highest preterm birth rate in the country.
Dr. Abhay Bhatt, principal investigator of the Neonatal Research Network, visits Marian Johnson, a patient in the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower at Children's of Mississippi.‘Science mom,’ ‘superb mentor,’ Alexander secures ace educator award
Dr. Barbara Alexander came to the Medical Center to make her mark as a scientist, and so she has. But this year’s winner of the Regions TEACH Prize discovered another passion as well, and she believes it may be what she’ll be remembered for most.
UMMC celebrates 900-plus May 2023 graduates across six health sciences schools
The Class of 2023 at the University of Mississippi Medical Center is beginning the next leg of the health care journey, translating hard work, sacrifice and determination into health sciences careers.
June
Medical Center achieves top designation for stroke care
It’s considered “the most demanding stroke certification” by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, bestowed only upon hospitals with the ability to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases. The Medical Center is now a Comprehensive Stroke Center, a honor given by The Joint Commission and evidence of the continuum of care that makes UMMC’s stroke care unique in Mississippi.
400 and counting: UMMC’s liver transplant program continues to shine
When the Medical Center jump-started its liver transplant program in 2013, it began building a robust liver care program that continues to grow. So many firsts followed Karen Battle’s historic surgery, including expansion of the abdominal transplant team and recruitment of transplant infectious diseases and hepatology teams. If not for the state’s only transplant program, Mississippi would have no complex liver care, including cancer treatment.
State, UMMC leaders break ground on new School of Nursing
A new 106,000-square-foot home for UMMC’s School of Nursing will soon be under construction. The state-of-the-art facility will include the needed laboratory and classroom space to increase the school’s enrollment by 25 percent.
July
Garner ready to pitch perfect programs as new SHRP dean
Dr. Jay Garner’s path to his new job has been as varied as the array of programs he’s now tasked with overseeing on a daily basis.
MIND Center receives $1 million endowed professorship
Fred Rodgers Adams Jr., his siblings and most of his cousins developed dementia in their later years. The family connection wasn’t lost on his daughter.
Double transplant patient “blessed” by historical organ transport service
Seriously ill, Ricky Mayers arrived at UMMC in need of life-giving heart and kidney transplants. Now the father of three is doing well and on the road to recovery after successful completion of both surgeries, one of which made the Medical Center the first in the nation to receive an organ through a new delivery system.
Ricky Mayers of Forest, a heart-kidney transplant patient, takes a walk in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, with Eugene Morgan, exercise physiologist in cardiac rehabilitation, closely watching.
August
Asylum Hill Field School students seize opportunity ‘at a scale rarely seen’
Working on the northeast corner of the UMMC campus, future anthropologists and archaeologists recently gained valuable experience while also helping the Medical Center honor a commitment made on behalf of thousands of deceased patients from a hospital that closed long ago.
Murphy takes the reins as dean of Graduate School
It was fate and a mix-up that led Dr. Sydney Murphy to a major in biochemistry, redirecting her path to the research field, and now SGSHS dean.
Revolution evolution: Coming curriculum model breaks century-old mold
The way medical students learn at the Medical Center has undergone a major overhaul. A curriculum redesign, in the works for years, is replacing an educational model created two years before the sinking of the Titanic.
September
Research enterprise surpasses $96M in funds
Researchers received 311 funded grants and awards during the last fiscal year, with the largest award at $6M.
October
Partnership boosts early childhood development with books
The Mississippi Children’s Museum is helping the University of Mississippi Medical Center and its pediatric arm, Children’s of Mississippi, spread the joy of books through Reach Out and Read, a national program that supports early parent-child relationships through reading. The project will put books in physicians’ hands for well-child visits so they can encourage parents to read to their young children.
PICU wins Beacon Award for Excellence from American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
Children’s of Mississippi’s pediatric intensive care unit is the only one in the state – and one of 33 across the country – with the AACN’s Beacon Award status. The honor recognizes excellence in patient care as well as work environment and the nursing workforce.
Among the PICU team members at Children's of Mississippi are, from left, registered nurse Lauren Gordon; Wesley Smith, director of nursing children’s hospital services in the PICU and the Pediatric Emergency Department; nurse educator Colbie Baird; and nurse manager Gordon Gartrell.
November
Go figure: Overall enrollment is up again
With some campus schools showing increases, the Medical Center recorded another high for the number of learners enrolled in the fall, counting residents and fellows. High also: their quality and commitment.
Unprecedented UMMC Kidney Swap: A Lifesaving Exchange of Donors Gives Two Patients a Second Chance at Life
Two individuals requiring kidney transplants encountered a challenge when they discovered that their initially planned donors were not compatible. However, before either of them was officially registered on the national transplant list, they received extraordinary news. It turned out that the intended donors were a suitable match for each other's patients, leading to the first-ever internal donor swap in UMMC history.
UMMC surgeons conduct the first single port robot-assisted surgeries in the state
UMMC is the first in the state to offer patients the latest, state-of-the-art technology for oropharyngeal and urological surgeries. The new single port robot will provide Mississippians with a more minimally invasive procedure option with improved surgical outcomes.
UMMC earns B ranking from Leapfrog
UMMC’s focus on quality care and patient satisfaction has paid off in a B, the highest score the Medical Center has ever earned from Leapfrog, a national nonprofit that sets standards for excellence in patient care.
Quality and safety with patient satisfaction earned UMMC a B grade from Leapfrog this fall.For the record: National Archives spurs online medical history project
Much of the Medical Center’s nearly 70-year-old story inhabits boxes, old files, film canisters, recordings and more – materials that need to be organized, cataloged and preserved. UMMC is committed to mining this trove in order to better illuminate its impact on the history of medicine in Mississippi – an ambition that has received a welcome boost.
December
MIND Center launches campaign to fund new centralized clinic
The state-of-the-art four-story clinic, which will provide a one-stop shop for all patient needs, expects to see more than 6,300 geriatric and dementia patients each year.
Sanderson Farms Championship host organization donates $1M to benefit Children’s of Mississippi
Century Club Charities donated $1 million to Friends of Children’s Hospital, marking the 10th year its donation to benefit Children’s of Mississippi has been $1 million or more. The announcement was made Tuesday at the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower, the expansion that Century Club’s donations helped build.