Kadence Lane was smiling and turning her head to sounds for the first time since losing her hearing to meningitis and becoming one of the youngest patients to ever have cochlear implants. Her March 2 surgery at Batson Children’s Hospital was followed by cochlear implant activation April 23.

From Gulfport to the Gopher State, an array of institutions is helping UMMC fulfill its three major missions of research, patient care and education. This is accomplished through a variety of formal affiliations that, in turn, provide valuable services to the likes of the Mayo Clinic and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, along with sites much closer to home.

When too little emphasis is placed on keeping patients from suffering harm, a culture of safety doesn’t exist. But thanks to the hard work of frontline caregiver teams and direction by leadership, the Medical Center has climbed from an “F” rating to a “C” assigned by a national hospital watchdog group.

Several interesting events are scheduled for the upcoming weeks at the Medical Center.

An associate professor of biomedical materials science in the School of Dentistry is selected to receive an American Society for Testing and Materials award, while three radiological sciences students are elected to leadership positions for SHRP and one medical student earns a national medical honor society fellowship.