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Employee Spotlight: Ruth Rendon, Human Resources Executive Assistant

It took one person to offer Ruth Rendon a glimpse at her future, first by giving her a job and then opportunities to advance, offering support and mentorship along the way. Now Rendon is paying that forward in her position as a human resources executive assistant and certified interpreter for UT Health East Texas.

That boss and mentor gave Rendon a chance when she wasn’t sure where her path in life would lead. Rendon moved from Mexico City to Texas with her family when she was 8, struggling to learn English and sometimes bullied by others because of it. Rendon attended Angelina...

Husband and wife work through their bariatric surgeries together!

Sometimes it is easier to do difficult things when you use the “buddy system.”

For the husband and wife team of Don and Lori Cupples, losing weight and recovering from gastric bypass surgery was much easier because they did it together at the same time.

The two live in Chandler and are patients of Dr. Charles Keith, a board-certified bariatric surgeon at the UT Health Tyler Bariatric Center. Don is 49 and is an English teacher and coach at Jacksonville High School. Lori, 52, is a dental...

Our body is like a finely-tuned automobile. Treat it right and it can last for a very long time.

But when you overload a vehicle with too much weight, the tires can wear out quickly and you face the possibility of a blowout. This extra strain also means the engine has to work harder to make the vehicle move, which usually means more problems down the road.

Merribeth Norman, who with her husband shares a love for driving and showing their antique car (above), had similar health concerns that led her to take serious steps to get back into good health.

Medical...

As the practice administrator for nine different rural health clinics in east Texas, Rhonda Keller regularly drives hundreds of miles to check-in with the doctors, nurses and staff who operate the clinics.

She talks to them about the patients they see, the care they provide and how more serious cases have to be transferred to UT Health Tyler.

So when Rhonda started having symptoms of extreme fatigue, she didn’t realize she would soon become one of those transferred patients to UT Health Tyler.

“I just thought it was all stress related, caused by work and everything...

Join UT Health East Texas primary care sports medicine physicians, Drs. Mike Galbraith and Becky Peebles, as they demonstrate stretches and exercises that can help strengthen you body and prevent injuries.

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Employee Spotlight: Ivan Leon, Senior HR Business Partner

Ivan Leon has always been a helper, someone who facilitates communication and bridges gaps. First it was through his job as an EMS dispatcher, then manager of the EMS dispatch center. More recently he moved into a human resources role and joined the UT Health East Texas Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, where he feels his work is only just beginning.

Leon started his healthcare career as a 911 dispatcher after seeing the position advertised in his local newspaper right after he graduated high school.

“I said, ‘Let’s see what that’s all about,’ and I loved it. I loved...

Summer Patterson (from left) donated coloring books to Kelly Diduch, RN, and Robin Davis, clinical manager for pediatrics, at UT Health Tyler. Summer created the coloring books as part of her Girl Scout Bronze Award service project. She got the idea for the coloring books from her own hospital stays as a child.

Summer Patterson remembers all too well being a patient in the hospital, bored with nothing to do while she recovered from four eye surgeries before her 10^th birthday.

The Whitehouse ISD sixth grader didn’t want other kids to face the same situation, so she used her Girl Scout service project to devise a solution. For her Bronze Award project, Summer created coloring books that she distributed to local hospitals, including UT Health Tyler, along with a set of crayons for each book.

“It was her idea, and she did all the work herself,” said Girl Scout Troop 6704...

Mary Urieta, orthopedic clinic supervisor at UT Health Tyler, still remembers how being in the hospital made her feel when she was 8 years old. While many kids that age might feel scared, Urieta remembers the hospital as a place where she and her parents felt accepted and valued, like they belonged.

Urieta’s family emigrated from Mexico to Texas when she was just 7, and she remembers how different she felt because her family didn’t look or talk like everyone else. She vividly recalls the faces people would make at her mother in the grocery store when they heard her speaking with an...

Tyler, Texas (September 8, 2022) — UT Health Tyler’s Digestive Disease Center now offers patients receiving a colonoscopy an enhanced screening with the aid of GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy module. The GI Genius™ module employs artificial intelligence (AI) to help physicians detect polyps — a powerful new ally in the fight against colorectal cancer.

The GI Genius™ module uses advanced AI software to highlight suspicious polyps with a visual marker in real time — serving as the gastroenterologist’s ever-vigilant second observer with a sensitivity rate per lesion of 100%....

Photo cutline: UT Health Tyler NICU Manager Jordan January, RN, (from left) and Ashley Stroud, RN, accept a donation of baby blankets crocheted by Nancy Savinelli, of Kerrville. Savinelli, who was inspired by her grandchildren, said it warms her heart to donate the blankets.

A distance of more than 300 miles didn’t stop a proud grandmother from spreading love to newborns at UT Health Tyler.

Nancy Savinelli said her own six grandchildren serve as her inspiration for making the crocheted baby blankets she donates to different baby organizations, including the UT Health Tyler Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“Children are such blessings,” Savinelli said. “I feel it is rewarding to give my blankets to others and it warms my heart.”

Savinelli, who with her husband of 38 years, Peter, retired from IBM to the Texas Hill Country and now lives in...

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