Five Questions

Good morning!

I hope each of you had a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. Hard to believe the December holidays are right around the corner.

Today, I’ll respond to some of the questions/comments you’ve sent to me over the past several weeks. But first, I’d like to commend a few of our AirCare and MED-COM staff for their quick actions in an emergency earlier this week.

During a patient transfer from Grenada to Hattiesburg, AirCare 3 was struck by a HUGE buzzard that ended up penetrating the windshield in front of pilot Nate Helgerson and landing in the right seat. (You can see the large hole in the pilot-side glass in the picture to the right.) That seat was empty because both members of the medical crew, Michael David and Kyle Stidham, were in the back caring for the patient. Not only was the pilot and crew startled, the in-cockpit alerts were signaling engine failure.

Thanks to the quick, calm actions by Nate to control the helicopter and communicate with air traffic control and MED-COM, he was able to safely land the aircraft at the Carthage airport where local EMS responders would be ready to care for the patient or crew members if needed. But the flight crew and MED-COM staff performed superbly and the patient was not negatively affected at all. AirCare 2 would soon arrive to accept the patient and continue to the intended destination.

Experience and training took over and the pilot and medical staff made all the right decisions and possibly saved lives, including their own. My sincerest appreciation to Nate, Michael and Kyle for keeping their wits about them and doing what was needed to protect and care for that patient – and each other. Thank you for being #UMMCStrong!

Now, on to your questions. Just as a reminder, I read all of your questions and comments and enjoy hearing from you. I’m only able to respond to some of them in this space, but I pass the rest along to senior administrators for their review and possible follow up. 

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Q:  How are employees supposed to get a parking pass in the morning if they drive another vehicle to work and the office is closed? I had to be here at 7:00 am, but the office doesn't open until 8 I needed a pass to park even though I pay for parking. I had car trouble one morning and I parked in my designated area in another vehicle. I had to explain to security that I was waiting for the office to open in order to get a pass so I wouldn't get a ticket.

A:  Facilities Parking Services provided me a pretty simple answer to your question.

If you bring an alternate vehicle to work from what is registered and park in your approved on-campus location, you should send an email to parking@umc.edu as soon as you get a chance or call 4-1405 after 8 a.m. to let them know that you are not in your normal vehicle. Doing this will ensure that you won’t receive a parking citation. (Or if accidently you get one, the matter can be cleared up pretty easily.) A parking pass is not needed for these instances where it is only for one day in another vehicle.  If anyone who has on-campus parking permission plans to drive a vehicle that is different than what is registered with Parking Services for a prolonged period of time, then that vehicle will need to be officially registered and a parking decal will need to be placed on it.

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Q:  Good morning, Dr. Woodward. I have a concern. I walk through Garage A every morning. I have observed that our patients and visitors (especially the elderly) have a hard time navigating to the hospital. Also, we have employees that park in there that are not very courteous to people walking. One morning, I saw an elderly couple who were both on canes. They were at the wrong end of the Garage A looking for the elevator. I observed 2 cars almost cause the husband to fall because they just sped on into the garage. He looked very scared because he thought they were going to hit him. He was trying to catch up with his wife. It broke my heart. I got them out of harm's way. Also, the gentleman had had a stroke and was not able to keep up with us. I sat him down to come back and get him once I got the wife to the front to check in. It is very disheartening to see them struggle to get to the front and to see our employees have no regard for them in the garage. Why are the carts not running to help these people?

A:  This story also tugged at my heart strings and brought two things to mind: What is the status of our golf cart service that used to run in our garages and it’s important that every single one of us does all we can to help our patients and visitors.

First, an update on the shuttles. I checked on this and found out that we’ve recently reached out to Groome Transportation, the vendor who supplies our bus services, to let them know that we would like to again offer that service. We suspended this activity back in 2020 around the time COVID-19 was really taking off. But we feel the climate is right again to bring this important service back. Groome tells us that a realistic timeframe to reinstitute the golf car service is around mid-January.

Now, in response to how you described the lack of concern some had for what was obviously two visitors to our campus that could benefit from assistance. First, I want to thank you for the way you stepped up and did what you could to help this elderly couple. Actions like these can be the difference between a positive experience for our patients and a poor experience. I feel I’ve made it clear – many times in this very weekly column – that there is an expectation that all of us should consistently take the time to be owners of the UMMC experience by being alert to the environment around us and helpful when we see someone in need. I know that each of us is very busy and often times we are in a hurry to get where we are going, but the brief amount of time that we take to provide a helping hand is worth so much. So, I ask again, let’s all keep our heads up and radars on for ways that we can help – whether it’s assisting one of our elderly patients or picking up the occasional piece of trash. We are all a part of what makes a positive experience for people on our campus or in our clinics.

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Q:  I see that Starbucks is closing; what is the plan for this area?

A:  Yes – sort of. The Starbucks-branded versions of the coffee shops in University Hospital, Sanderson Tower and the Pavilion are no longer operating. But they won’t be out of service for long and will reopen under new names in a few weeks or so.

Cups will operate the shops in University Hospital and Sanderson Tower. The local company also has a shop in Methodist Rehab’s building. PJ’s, which operates a nearby restaurant in Fondren, also will operate the shop in the Pavilion.

We are excited about these local businesses taking over these locations on our campus and expect them to deliver an excellent experience for their customers. While they are out of operation, you can get your coffee fix at the Copper Spoon in the School of Medicine, the Cups in Methodist, Wiser cafeteria and the main cafeteria.

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Q: I wanted to say thank you for doing the “flu on wheels”. It was very convenient for those of us who do not work in any of the buildings on campus.

A:  So glad that worked out for you. This isn’t the first appreciative comment I’ve heard about this year’s new addition to our annual flu vaccination drive. Flu on Wheels visited over 90 locations! I suspect this will be a recurring service each fall going forward.

Remember, a flu vaccination is required for all employees and students, unless an accommodation is granted. More information on our flu vaccine policy, where you can get your shot and the accommodation request process can be found here. The deadline to comply with the policy is Dec. 31, so if you haven’t already taken care of this either at UMMC or through another provider, now is a good time to do it. As of yesterday morning, 65% of employees and 44% of students have complied with the policy. I’m sure some people have gotten their shot already but still have to submit documentation to be compliant. Please, don’t let that end-of-year deadline pass you by.

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Q:  Dr. Woodward, thank you for your VC Notes, I enjoy reading them. I am also appreciative of your Workforce Compensation Plan as outlined in the November 4, 2021 Campus Memo. I have a question that many UMC employees would like to have answered. Are UMMC supervisory personnel and managers still being notified whenever someone under their supervision applies for a different UMMC job? Many employees believe such notifications have allowed supervisors and managers to influence their being hired by a different UMMC department.

A:  In my VC Notes for Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, I responded to a similar question about this topic. At that time, we saw this manager notification as a positive function that was activated following our switch over to Workday. Since that time, Human Resources has received several similar comments from leaders on campus that indicated this automatic notification wasn’t universally appreciated. The notification has been turned off as HR looks for other ways to communicate employee changes to managers.

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Great questions today. Thank you for sending them in and keep them coming!

It’s amazing that we are nearly through 2021. What a year it’s been. But, through it all, your steadfast dedication to our patients and students and the communities we serve has been exemplary. Because of your efforts, we are moving forward toward A Healthier Mississippi. Thank you.