News

The UT Health Quitman nursing staff recently was honored with a DAISY Team Award, which recognizes that while an idea to achieve better patient and family outcomes may start with one individual, it often takes an entire team to implement successfully.  The DAISY Team Award is designed to honor collaboration by two or more people,…

As document control administrator for UT Health East Texas, Steven Rhame’s interaction with the health system focuses largely on paperwork, trying to ensure the entire market — all 10 hospitals and 90-plus clinics — are adhering to the same policies. When Rhame’s 10-year-old son, Ransom, recently landed in the hospital following a tonsillectomy, he saw…

Steven Hickman recently finished his shift excited about his birthday dinner with his mom that night, only to realize his moped had been stolen. What was supposed to be a great day soon turned into the beginning of a dark few weeks for Steven, who works in environmental services at UT Health Tyler.  Despite the…

As neurosurgeon Paul Detwiler, MD, stood behind the patient, having just inserted an electrode in his brain, neurologist George Plotkin, PhD, MD, told the patient he was going to hand him a cup of coffee to hold.  The patient, who had suffered from essential tremors so intense he hadn’t been able to sign his name…

Like many women, Laura Phillips tended to treat her own health needs as an afterthought, often ignoring her primary care physician’s recommendation to get an annual mammogram.  “He’s been on me every year about it, and I usually blow it off, but this year I did it,” Phillips said. “I don’t know, this time to…

In honor of Black Nurses Week July 27 – 31, we are featuring team member stories to highlight the contributions of Black nurses in the communities we serve. LaMetriss Dewberry knew from a young age she would end up in healthcare because of her love of helping people.  Born and raised in Tyler, she attended…

By Dr. Rebecca Peebles, UT Health East Texas It doesn’t long take for toddlers to start running after they learn to walk. Watch a child run. For kids, there is something almost magical about the freedom and joy of running. As we get older, most of us lose sight of the joy of running. For…

In addition to her job as a patient service representative at UT Health East Texas Physicians Pediatric Clinic on Fifth Street in Tyler, Christie Henry is a busy mom of six, including two teen boys who love football.  One of their favorite players is Patrick Mahomes, so Henry was thrilled when she learned she was…

As the number of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes continues to climb in the United States, so does the need to educate them about the disease and how to manage it.  UT Health East Texas is making progress toward that education through its Diabetes University program, which has been offered via telehealth for a…

Shyann and Tonya  May is National Foster Care Month, recognizing foster children and those standing for them.  Tonya Kirkpatrick, executive assistant for UT Health East Texas EMS/AIR 1, has always had a calling to help children.  She was at her son’s baseball game almost 20 years ago when she saw a little girl sitting alone…