INTRODUCTION

What a difference a year makes.

From new clinics that improve Central Texans’ access to care to partnerships that expand Dell Med’s reach and impact, our — your — Year in Health has been transformative. Read some of the highlights of 2017.

January - June

January 26, 2017

Landmarks Public Art Project Connects, Inspires

Explore ONEEVERYONE »

Internationally acclaimed artist Ann Hamilton unveils ONEEVERYONE, a community-based photography project created for Dell Med. The Landmarks series, featuring more than 500 individuals impacted by health care, sparks vital conversations about care and community.

February 15, 2017

National Leader Joins Effort to Rethink Cancer Care

Hear from her »

S. Gail Eckhardt, inaugural director of the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes, begins her leadership of Dell Med’s work to reinvent the continuum of cancer care. With partners such as the LIVESTRONG Foundation, the institutes focus on patient-centered support and collaborative research.

March 24, 2017

Early Health Care Redesign Efforts Yield Results

Read about it »

A specialty care pilot project that cut wait times from a year to three weeks for low-income patients. A team working with the community to find local solutions to local problems. Experts changing the system to provide better outcomes at lower costs. Dell Med is making progress.

May 21, 2017

Dell Seton Medical Center Begins Providing Care

Learn about Dell Seton »

The primary teaching hospital for Dell Medical School students, graduate-level medical residents and faculty physicians opens. Seton Healthcare Family, part of Ascension, funded, owns and operates the hospital, which is a Level 1 trauma center for the region.

June 26, 2017

Next Class of Future Physician Leaders Arrives

Meet Dell Med ’21 »

As students from Dell Med’s inaugural class begin training and providing care in community hospitals and clinics, the school welcomes 50 new first-year students. Their abilities and experiences will help them revolutionize how people get and stay healthy.

June 29, 2017

New Medical Residents Begin Providing Care

See the report »

A new group of residents and fellows — doctors-in-training who work under the supervision of an attending physician — arrives at Dell Med. Among the facts reported in Dell Med’s 2017 Community Impact Update: Since 2012, the number of residents providing care in Central Texas has risen by more than 30 percent.

REVOLUTIONIZING HOW PEOPLE GET AND STAY HEALTHY

4

UT HEALTH AUSTIN CLINICS

100

STUDENTS

718

FACULTY PHYSICIANS

July - December

July 17, 2017

Merck Announces Plans for Austin Tech Hub

More details »

Merck announces plans to locate its next tech hub in Austin. The pharmaceutical giant’s future-focused facility will be housed in Dell Med’s Health Discovery Building and will be a key anchor for the Innovation District developing around Dell Med.

August 1, 2017

Dell Med Adds Focused Oncology Team

Read about its core strategy »

The Department of Oncology — Dell Med’s ninth academic department — is created. Alongside the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes, its focus is on advancing the full spectrum of cancer education, research and care in Austin and Travis County, where cancer is the No. 1 cause of death.

October 17, 2017

UT Health Austin Opens Doors to Patients

Learn about the practice »

UT Health Austin, the team-based clinical practice of Dell Med, begins serving Central Texas. The first clinics focus on care for a select-but-growing list of conditions including joint pain, multiple sclerosis and complex gynecological disorders.

November 3, 2017

Diagnostic Medicine Becomes 10th Department

Read the news release »

Dell Med creates the Department of Diagnostic Medicine, led by R. Nick Bryan. One of only a handful of its kind, the department focuses on developing partnerships with local clinical practices to redefine how diagnostic testing is designed, delivered and leveraged to improve health.

December 2, 2017

Summit Works to Reorient Health Care Around Value

More from the event organizer »

Dell Med hosts 50 student leaders from 25 medical schools across the U.S. in conjunction with the Choosing Wisely Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship (STARS) program. They learn strategies for implementing core concepts of value-based health care.

December 12, 2017

New Chair Focuses on Better Eye Care in Central Texas

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Jane Edmond, an expert in eye health, plans to return to The University of Texas at Austin to lead the Wong Eye Institute and the Department of Ophthalmology at Dell Med. Her vision is that patients will travel to Austin for the signature ophthalmologic care made available here.

IN THEIR WORDS

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“A community’s biggest untapped health resource is the community itself. Our mission is to listen attentively to people who submit ideas and leverage their insight and creativity in ways that everyone will benefit from.”

Lourdes J. Rodríguez, PhD Director, Center for Place-Based Initiatives
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“This school is committed to more than just educating the best clinicians — it’s also training the best health care advocates and community-oriented doctors. That’s exactly what I was looking for, and it represents the change I want to help make in the health care system.”

Dekoiya Burton Student, Class of 2021
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“This is a big deal: A mere five years after the citizens of Travis County voted to approve local taxpayer funding for Dell Med — and three years after the school was founded — we will now have both a medical school — attracting many of the best students — and clinical care programs serving the people of Austin and Travis County.”

Gregory L. Fenves, PhD President, The University of Texas at Austin
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“The old standard was, if you get the patient seen by a specialist, that signals victory. We’re leapfrogging all of that and saying yes, being seen is an important metric, but we’re tracking patient-reported outcomes to measure ourselves and to evaluate the care.”

Karl Koenig, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery & Perioperative Care
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“I came to Austin to do something big. Working alongside the people of this community, providers and consumers alike, to redesign the way we structure and deliver mental health care — especially for people with lesser means — is a huge opportunity to make a difference on a large scale.”

Stephen Strakowski, MD Chair, Department of Psychiatry
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“Health care will work when care for a person extends beyond the walls of an exam room — making the title of ‘patient’ inadequate and role of ‘physician’ insufficient. Health is more than just the absence of disease.”

Steve Steffensen, MD Chief of the Learning Health System
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“If we’re going to build a health care system that works, it starts with the way physicians are trained throughout their career. That means finding innovative approaches and methods for educating future physician leaders, not just training doctors.”

Beth Nelson, MD Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education
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“To be an effective leader, you must always know where you’re headed. Your approach may change as you go — but the end goal stays constant.”

Eddie Erlandson, MD Director of Leadership & Coaching
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“Dell Med is leading the way as we redesign the decrepit Austin State Hospital into a brain health center of excellence that strengthens the entire continuum of mental health care and improves access to care for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. With the Legislature's investment in 2017, we're preparing to make this vision a reality.”

State Sen. Kirk Watson District 14

We'd like to hear from you.

Which of these milestones would you like to learn more about in 2018?