The very structure of a bustling academic medical center and its multidisciplinary approach to care can lend itself to communication breakdowns between providers, departments and non-clinical staff. It can be a challenge to get the message across in a format that fits the culture and time constraints of the receiver, but the safety of patients can hinge on that communication.

As a teenager, Paige Staggs Welch fought cancer at the Children’s Center Center and won, going on to graduate from college, marry and become a mother. When her infant son needed surgery, there was no question where she and her husband, Mark, were taking their child: to Batson Children's Hospital.

An assistant professor of pathology gets tabbed for national committee service; an assistant professor of family medicine becomes the first African-American MPA president-elect; and several UMMC faculty and staff members claim the moniker "Health Care Hero" from a statewide business journal.

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

Medical Center leadership is proud to acknowledge those employees who will celebrate service anniversaries during the week of Oct. 22-28.