UMMC’s true economic impact measured in money, people

All the figures orbiting and spinning off the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s $1.4 billion annual economic impact, its claim as 10 percent of the metro-Jackson economy and its 8,600 employees boils down to people like Lee and Kim Ferguson.

On the verge of graduating from medical school, Lee Ferguson and his wife, Kim, a recruiter at the School of Nursing, put in an offer to buy a house under construction in Brandon.

Lee matched into internal medicine at UMMC in mid-March and the couple spent the next three weeks hurriedly looking through what felt like three dozen houses.

When seconds matterUMMC is the place to be

When the media report news of an accident involving traumatic injuries, one of the following phrases is sure to follow: “transported to UMC,” “airlifted to UMC,” or “listed in serious condition at UMC.”

Emergency responders and community hospitals know the state’s only level one trauma center is at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, so when a life hangs in the balance, the patient comes here. Time is critical.

“Ten to 15 minutes are the difference between life and death,” said Dr. John Porter, chief of the Division of Trauma and Critical Care Surgery.

ACT Center helps tobacco users say no to nicotine – for good

A tobacco-treatment center that originated with a dentist and a psychologist encouraging smokers to kick the habit has just passed its 10-year milestone while at the same time expanding its services to more locations than ever before.

Located in the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s ACT Center opened in 1999 with a mission to help Mississippians quit using tobacco — and to stay tobacco-free —through education, training and research.

Dr. Karen Crews, director of the center, spearheaded the project while she was on faculty in the School of Dentistry. As a young practitioner working at a corrections facility where 80 percent of the inmates smoked, Crews said she

Electronic monitoring debuts in UMMC’s ICU

At 2 a.m., an intensive care unit nurse notices a change in a patient’s condition that could warrant intervention, but she wants another opinion.

A dedicated phone line and an in-room emergency notification button connect her to off-campus critical care physicians and nurses who have been monitoring the patient around the clock. Together they determine the next course of action, whether it’s administering medication or contacting the primary physician.

Beginning Dec. 15, that hypothetical scenario will be reality with the launch of University of Mississippi Health Care’s Intensiview, a Philips VISICU eICU program. The system combines advanced software, two-way audio and video

Majority-female enrollment mirrors national trend in dental education

The 30-year-old School of Dentistry has reached a new milestone. With women dentists becoming more the norm in a profession long dominated by men, the dental school for the first time enrolled a higher number of new female students than male students.

Entering the school this fall, the class of 2013 includes 18 female students and 17 male students.

The majority-female class follows a gradual but steady increase of

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

I know you share my belief that we are extremely fortunate to work at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  Not only is it a joy and a privilege  to work around a highly skilled, caring group of people who are doing work that really matters, but so far, the Medical Center has been spared from layoffs and severe cutbacks or closings others have experienced over the last year.

That makes it all the more important that we consider the needs of our neighbors in the UMMC Cares campaign.  This year's campaign, which begins Monday, Nov. 2, and runs through Nov. 13, will allow you to

Grad school alum plays key role in novel H1N1 vaccine deployment

One of the nation’s top scientists and a prominent player in the development of the forthcoming H1N1 swine influenza vaccine is Mississippi native Dr. Robin Robinson, a graduate of what became the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

As director of the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority, an organization within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robinson promotes the development of vaccines, treatments and therapies for a range of public-health emergencies.

Since June, the BARDA office has helped develop, license and move the H1N1 flu vaccine into private-sector mass production. The vaccine is scheduled to go public this month.

New building promises to bolster pharmacy research, clinical practice

In many ways, the School of Pharmacy has felt detached from the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Its degree program is split between Oxford and Jackson, and most local classes are at the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center. Faculty, paid through the University of Mississippi in Oxford, didn’t even receive employee numbers here until three years ago.

But the growing school hopes to ease its separation anxiety with the construction of its own building on campus.

Construction of the School of Pharmacy building is scheduled to begin in the