USA Health Announces New Name for Hospital

The University of South Alabama today unveiled a new name for the region’s only hospital offering Level I trauma care, as the USA Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the name of the USA Medical Center to University Hospital, a transformation that more accurately reflects the hospital’s teaching and research mission.

University Hospital, as a component of USA Health, will continue to serve the Mobile region as it has for generations, providing unique, nationally ranked services that include the region’s only Level I trauma center and the Arnold Luterman Regional Burn Center.

“The University Hospital name expresses our unique mission to provide medical education, innovative care and cutting edge treatments stemming from academic research, and it brings all of our components together under the USA Health umbrella,” said Dr. John Marymont, USA’s vice president for medical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine. “We are the only area hospital offering the highest level of stroke care, as well as evidence-based approaches to caring for cancer, diabetes and complex treatments and diagnosis of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s and epilepsy.”

The USA Health name will serve as the umbrella brand for the University of South Alabama’s health system, including USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute and USA Health Physicians Group.

The University Hospital name was selected based on research that explored the Mobile community’s understanding of the breadth and depth of services offered at University Hospital and the quality of care that patients experience throughout USA Health.

The research showed that those who engaged with the health system thought very highly of the quality of care they received, but they had limited understanding of the overall impact and high level of care delivered throughout the USA Health system.

“The University Hospital name clarifies our mission and purpose by bringing to the forefront the University of South Alabama’s mission as a leader in health care practice, research and teaching,” said Sam Dean, University Hospital administrator and assistant vice president for medical affairs. “The hospital is not only part of an academic medical system, but it is also a pioneer in treating complex conditions, conducting innovative research and educating the next generation of health care professionals.”

The University Hospital name change follows the recent announcement of a $5 million gift from Herbert Meisler that will double the size of the hospital’s trauma center, the Fanny Meisler Trauma Center, as well as the recent inaugural flight of USA Southflight, a helicopter emergency service  partnership between USA Health and Air Methods.

About USA Health University Hospital
As a state-certified Level I Trauma and nationally ranked burn center, USA Health University Hospital serves as the major referral center for patients with traumatic injuries from southern Alabama, southeast Mississippi, and portions of northwest Florida. Last year alone, University Hospital served patients in 53 counties. As the go-to facility for the area’s toughest emergencies, University Hospital is capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury, from prevention through rehabilitation.

About USA Health
With more than 3,800 employees, USA Health is unlike any other health care organization on the Alabama Gulf Coast. It includes USA Health University Hospital, USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute, USA Health Physicians Group and USA Health College of Medicine. At least one-third of local physicians, some 2,500, received their training at University Hospital. More than 10,400 nurses and 5,600 allied health professionals received training at USA hospitals.

Dr. Wilburn Bolton III Returns to USA College of Medicine

Dr. Wilburn Bolton III recently returned to the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, serving as assistant professor of internal medicine and an endocrinologist with USA Physicians Group. Previously, he served as an assistant professor of internal medicine and emergency medicine at the USA College of Medicine from 2012 until 2016.

Dr. Bolton received his medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency training at USA. After serving four years as an assistant professor, he completed an endocrinology and metabolism fellowship at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C.

Dr. Bolton is a member of the American Diabetes Association and American College of Physicians. He received Clinical Instructor of the Year in 2016 for the department of physician assistant studies and the Red Sash Award each year during his first four years with USA.

Dr. Bolton is accepting new patients. To make an appointment, call (251) 470-5890.

USA Physicians Group Welcomes New Trauma/Critical Care Physician Assistant

Claire Naylor recently was appointed a trauma/critical care physician assistant with USA Physicians Group.

In her new appointment, Naylor will be handling medical management of trauma patients, preparing patients for their future recovery, providing education about their injuries and surgeries, and connecting them with resources to foster the healing process.

“The most rewarding part of my job is seeing patients who are critically injured progress to a better state of health, ultimately going home with family or rehab for continued progression,” she said. “They are given a second chance as life. Knowing I am a part of their healing and recovery process is gratifying.”

Naylor said the course work and clinical rotations through USA’s physician assistant program is what prepared her for her job in the trauma department. The program taught her early on how to utilize time efficiently, and it provided an excellent broad foundation to build her medical knowledge, she said.

Naylor received her master’s degree from USA and began her career as a physician assistant at Cardiology Associates in the cardiovascular surgery unit. She is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and Alabama Society of Physician Assistants.

Clyde G. 'Sid' Huggins Medical Student Research Awards Announced

Huggins award winners with their mentors: back row,
from left, Justin Rich, Dr. Wito Richter and Dr. Mark
Gillespie; second row, from left, Will McDonough,
Carson Edwards and Marcina Lang; third row, from
left, Jordan Smith and Dr. Jonathon Audia; fourth
row, from left, Patricia Vogel and Dr. Lewis Pannell;
front row, from left, Kimberly McWilliams and
Chinnadurai Mani.

The University of South Alabama College of Medicine recently hosted its 45th annual Medical Student Research Day, recognizing students who participated in the Summer Medical Student Research Program.

During the 10-week summer program, first- and second-year medical students participated in research projects with basic science and clinical faculty in the USA College of Medicine. Students presented their research projects either orally or on poster at the culmination of the summer research program.

The Clyde G. “Sid” Huggins Medical Student Research Awards honor the memory of Dr. Huggins, who served as the first dean of students for the USA College of Medicine.

Jordan Matthews Smith, a second-year student, was recognized for the best oral presentation, titled, "Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Type III Secretion System Effectors Influence Production of Cytotoxic Amyloid Species in the Lung of Infected Mice." Smith was sponsored by Dr. Jonathon Audia, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the USA College of Medicine and a member of the Center for Lung Biology.

Poster presentation winners were Carson Edwards, Will McDonough, Kimberly McWilliams, Justin Rich and Patricia Vogel.

Edwards, a second-year student, presented "Mitochondrial DNA Damps in Severe Injured Patients Requiring Massive Transfusion: Evidence for a Feed-Forward Pathway Regulating MTDNA Damp Production." He was sponsored by Dr. Mark Gillespie, professor and chair of pharmacology at the USA College of Medicine and a member of the Center for Lung Biology.

McDonough, a first-year student, presented "Inhibition of  PDE4  Induces Gastroparesis in Mice." He was sponsored by Dr. Wito Richter, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the USA College of Medicine and a member of the Center for Lung Biology, and Lina Abou Saleh, a graduate student in biochemistry and molecular biology and the Center for Lung Biology.

McWilliams, a second-year student, presented "Evaluation of Anticancer F10 Compound in Combination with CHK1 Inhibitor in Colon Cancer Cells." She was sponsored by Dr. Kumar Palle, Abraham Mitchell Cancer Research Scholar and associate professor of oncologic sciences at the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute.

Rich, second-year student, presented "Assessing the Acute Effects of PDE4 Ablation in Mice." He was sponsored by Dr. Richter and Abou Saleh.

Vogel, a second-year student, presented "Characterizing Modified Sites of a Cancer-Associated C-Terminal Peptide in 1-Antitrypsin." She was sponsored by Dr. Lewis Pannell, professor of biochemistry and microbiology and oncologic sciences at the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute.

Mobile Medical Museum to Host 'Dreaming at Dawn: African Americans and Health Care'

The Mobile Medical Museum will present "Dreaming at Dawn: African Americans and Health Care, 1865-1945," an original exhibit that tells the story of African-American medical practitioners in Mobile during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. 

The exhibition will open Sept. 7, 2018, and will be on view through July 2019, in the Mary Elizabeth and Charles Bernard Rodning Gallery of the museum.

"Dreaming at Dawn" draws from the museum’s own collection as well as rarely seen photographs and artifacts on loan from other local collections. The centerpiece of the exhibit will be a new cast-iron sculptural portrait of Dr. James A. Franklin Sr., one of Mobile’s earliest and most distinguished African-American physicians, created by local sculptor April Livingston. 

The Mobile Medical Museum is located at 1664 Springhill Avenue. For more information, visit www.mobilemedicalmuseum.org or call (251) 415-1109.

Mark Your Calendar: Randall W. Powell Endowed Memorial Lectureship

Dr. Oluyinka O. Olutoye

The 2018 Randall W. Powell Endowed Memorial Lectureship in Pediatric Surgery, hosted by the University of South Alabama Department of Surgery, will feature Dr. Oluyinka O. Olutoye, co-director of the Texas Children's Fetal Center, a pediatric surgeon and a member of the fetal surgery team at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

Dr. Olutoye will present "To Mentor and Be Mentored" at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 6, at the Strada Patient Care Center.

His second lecture, titled “Perinatal Management of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia,” will take place at 7 a.m. Sept. 7, in the USA Medical Center second-floor conference room.

The lectureship is named in honor of Dr. Randall Powell, former professor of surgery and pediatrics at the USA College of Medicine, who passed away in 2017. As a pediatric surgeon, Dr. Powell belonged to a very small group of surgeons who trained beyond general surgery residency in order to care for neonates and children with all the complex congenital defects and the different physiology of the growing child. While at USA, Dr. Powell was director of the division of pediatric surgery and professor of physician assistant studies.

Both lectures are CME accredited. For more information, contact the Department of Surgery at (251) 445-8230.

Rebecca Dicks Receives Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award

Dr. Mary Townsley, senior associate dean of the USA College of Medicine, presents the Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award to Rebecca Dicks, a second-year student in the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program.  

Rebecca Dicks, a second-year student in the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program, is the recipient of the Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award for the 2017-2018 academic year. Dr. Mary Townsley, senior associate dean of the USA College of Medicine, presented a plaque and cash award to Dicks on Aug. 16, at new student orientation.

The award is named in memory of Edwin R. Hughes, who served as director of the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program at the USA College of Medicine from its inception in 1978 until 1990. The award recognizes the student with the best academic performance in the program's core curriculum.

College of Medicine Welcomes New Basic Medical Sciences Students

Basic Medical Sciences graduate students and their families enjoyed a barbecue dinner at the home of Dr. Mary Townsley, senior associate dean of the USA College of Medicine.   

The University of South Alabama College of Medicine recently welcomed 11 first-year students to the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program.

The Basic Medical Sciences Student Organization and Dr. Mary Townsley, senior associate dean of the USA College of Medicine, hosted the barbecue welcome dinner at Dr. Townsley's home.

Check out more photos from the event on Flickr.