About 2,500 babies are born at UMMC each year, but approximately one-third of them will need intervention at birth due to low birth weight, congenital defects or distress.

To give them the best start in life, the Madison Charitable Foundation donated more than $250,000 to create a new neonatal suite and a simulation lab that helps future and current medical professionals hone their skills to be ready for newborns. The suite and lab both opened last month.

The suite will provide a space where infants in need of intervention can be warmed and, if needed, resuscitated in the same bed they'll be in at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nearby.

“This generous gift from the Madison Charitable Foundation has made sure the latest equipment to resuscitate babies is just steps away from them,” said Dr. Renate Savich, professor of pediatrics and chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine. “The infants never have to move from bed to bed, and they are not cold or stressed.”

Ninety percent of cytotechnologists employed in Mississippi, and all of those employed at the Medical Center, received their training at the School for Health Related Professions. The positive impact they've had on the health of women in the state is undeniable.

However, the Bachelor of Science in Cytotechnology program graduated its final class last month. Due to advances in technology and changes in screening guidelines that have had drastic effects on the field, the program is no longer accepting new students.  

In the 1960s the outlook changed for women's reproductive health. The American Cancer Society (ACS) publicly promoted a test developed by George N. Papanicolaou in the '20s, and doctors in the United States began routinely testing women for early cervical cancer, reducing the cervical cancer death rate today by 70 percent, according to the ACS.

The test was the Pap smear, and the birth of a new career - cytotechnology - brought with it the decline of cervical cancer deaths.

The cytotechnologist analyzes the Pap stained smears under a microscope to detect changes in size and shape and slight variation in the nucleus and cytoplasm of cells to judge whether or not the patient has pre-cancerous or cancerous cells. It is meticulous work and requires independent decision-making skills.

The Medical Center's 10,000-plus employees are in the final stretch of error prevention training, with a December 2016 finish in sight.

The 2.5-hour training sessions are mandatory - and they're already impacting the prevention of events that result in harm to patients or to any of the 25,000 people who daily teem in and out of campus.

“I'm seeing more people raising their hands, willing to take part in initiatives such as hand hygiene and reducing infections,” said Shannon Wentz, administrator in the Office of Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Henderson and one of the 30 people across the organization who volunteer as trainers.

The Medical Center is proud to acknowledge those employees who will celebrate service anniversaries this week.

A number of interesting events is scheduled for the upcoming weeks at the Medical Center.

A professor of preventive medicine gains recognition for advancing remote sensing in public health research, while a research fellow obtains a $5,000 grant from the national Alpha Omega Alpha organization.