Message from the Associate Dean for Veterinary Medical Center Operations
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I would like to thank everyone for their patience, kindness, and support as I navigate the transition to become the new Associate Dean for Veterinary Medical Center Operations. I’m proud to be one of the leaders for this fantastic team of faculty, staff, and students who serve our community.
It has, no doubt, been a challenging year, and I want to acknowledge the Herculean efforts of all our team members who have carried us through unprecedented times. Our client services and patient receiving teams have navigated countless operational changes to accommodate the pandemic and work around critical hospital renovations. Our senior students have entered the teaching hospital and adjusted to the increased caseload demands and communications challenges of outdoor receiving. Our faculty and staff have led our clinical services from limited receiving to a booming caseload all while learning new technology, enacting countless safety measures, and training the next generation of veterinarians. Our house officers have worked tirelessly to care for our patients, train students, and meet their own training requirements. None of this is easy in a normal year. The flexibility and resilience of our teams is inspiring. Thank you all for being here and contributing to the success of our team.
Although we see COVID-19 restrictions being lifted in parts of the community, I want to remind all of you that adherence to our safety protocols and policies is more important than ever. As cases are once again on the rise, I’m asking you to help us all stay safe by ensuring proper mask protocols throughout our hospital environment. The UC COVID-19 Vaccination Policy is officially adopted, and I’m urging you all to have a look at this policy and ensure you have a plan to be compliant by September 8, 2021. At the heart of this plan is the desire to protect our team, and I am grateful for all your efforts to make our vaccination rates some of the best on campus. This minimizes our risk and ensures that we can continue to serve our patients, train our students, and meet the needs of the community.
Finally, I want to be sure everyone knows that I am eager to work with each of you to help create and foster a welcoming and inclusive environment where each of us can achieve our goals, improve our lives, and show the next generation of veterinarians a path toward success. I have moved into the CVMO’s office and would love to chat with you. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me. You can drop by the office (2019A VMTH), give me a call or text (cell 614-390-1516), or schedule a dedicated meeting time (email nijadams@ucdavis.edu). I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
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Welcome, Dr. Stern!
Please welcome Dr. Joshua Stern as the Associate Dean for Veterinary Medical Center (VMC) Operations and Chief Veterinary Medical Officer (CVMO), effective July 1, 2021 for a five-year term.
We, of course, all know Dr. Stern from his years with the Cardiology Service (many as Chief) and his time as Interim Director of the Small Animal Clinic. He is a dedicated and passionate educator with a commitment to mentoring DVM students, residents, and doctoral candidates. Dr. Stern also served as Chair of the Curriculum Committee and during the pandemic as Faculty Assistant to the Associate Dean for Professional Education, facilitating efforts in support of clinical training in a hybrid format, as well as increasing educational access to clinical training within the constraints of public health guidelines.
The Associate Dean for VMC Operations and CVMO is a member of the senior leadership team of the School of Veterinary Medicine and reports directly to the Dean. The position is responsible for the professional, academic, and ethical affairs, financial health, and operational efficiency of the VMTH. The position ensures that the VMTH meets its mission to provide state-of-the-art clinical care and to serve as the primary clinical teaching experience for DVM students and postgraduate veterinarians in advanced clinical training programs.
Congratulations, Dr. Stern! We look forward to your leadership.
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COVID-19 Vaccination Deadline Approaching
The campus deadline for COVID-19 vaccination policy compliance is September 8, 2021. This means that all who access the VMTH must have completed a COVID-19 vaccination series in its entirety by two weeks prior to September 8, 2021 or have received a medical/religious exception or deferral by this date. All UC Davis employees are eligible to be vaccinated. Please visit the UC Davis COVID-19 Vaccine Program site for details.
If you have completed your vaccination series, please ensure that the details are registered in the health-e messaging portal.
If you have not completed your vaccination series, please schedule your initial vaccination no later than July 28, 2021 so that your booster is administered prior to August 25, 2021. This will ensure continued access to the VMTH without interruption.
If you intend to file for an exception or deferral, please watch for updates on this application process. Forms will be available for this purpose and require campus evaluation and processing. Exceptions or deferrals must be reviewed and granted prior to September 8, 2021 to maintain facility access. Please note that the exception process will take time to review and requires information such as a certification by your physician.
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Recognitions
VPETT stands for:
V = Realize Our Vision
P = Value People
E = Pursue Excellence
T = One Team
T = Trusted Dialogue
The VPETT initiative is in full swing, so please utilize the PerfectForm icon link available on every VMTH desktop (or through VIPER>VMTH>Forms>VPETT) to nominate your colleagues for recognition of an outstanding example of one of our five Cultural Pillars.
To help you better understand the VPETT initiative and the nomination process, Cultural Pillars Committee members Melissa Bartholomew and Becky Griffey created a video to easily walk you through the process and to see some of the great prizes available.
Each award recipient will receive a certificate and be entered into a monthly drawing. Each month, four lucky people—two nominators and two recipients—will receive amazing prizes.
The VMTH has partnered with Ariat Crew, who donated many prize items from their inventory, including water bottles, t-shirts, pullovers, jackets, boots, and much more. Additionally, all SVM employees will receive a 20% discount and free shipping on all Ariat items available on their website.
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July Recipients:
Dallas Hollis, QA/QC Supervisor in VMTH Diagnostic Laboratory, was recognized for exemplifying our cultural beliefs of Realize Vision, Pursue Excellence, and One Team, which contributed to the key results of Outstanding Patient Care and Fiscal Health.
“Dallas has found many issues in our QC and worked extremely hard to fix these issues. He continuously works overtime to fix them. In particular, he found an issue with AT3, and his approach to fixing the problem not only saves time and effort but will be an overall cost savings for the lab in the long run. I am extremely grateful for his dedication to the service and ‘thinking outside the box.’”
Dallas enjoys skateboarding, Star Wars comics, and playing with his kids, Cedar and Jasper.
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Traci Zalasky, Senior Client Services Manager, was recognized for exemplifying our cultural belief of One Team, which contributed to the key result of Client/rDVM Satisfaction.
“Traci oversaw the client services team activities as we shifted to 24-hours per day client access to the VMTH for discharge and admission. She created a detailed protocol and led her staff in a positive manner to engage a team of excited personnel who were all striving for an excellent outcome. The transition occurred on an exceptionally busy day and occurred without a hitch.”
Traci enjoys baseball and spending time with her family.
Thank you, Dallas and Traci, for your hard work and dedication to the VMTH.
In addition, Kriste Sears and Samantha Jones also received awards for recognizing their colleagues’ hard work.
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Key Cultural Pillar
“Value People”
The VMTH recently acknowledged the dedication and hard work of its staff members with the annual Staff Awards and Rachel Smith Award. In her opening remarks, Dr. Emily Berryhill, Chair of the Staff Awards Committee, commented on how the nominees demonstrated leadership to the hospital community and were prime examples of the hospital’s cultural beliefs. One nominee was described as a passionate instructor who empowers the success of students and residents by providing respective and constructive comments and makes students feel valued and essential. Another was described as someone who sets the tone on the service with her exceptional work ethic and communication style, and who has an attitude that inspires the rest of the service to care more deeply about each other and the success of the team. Thank you to the Staff Awards Committee for their hard work: Drs. Emily Berryhill (Chair), Matthew Prator, Catherine Outerbridge, Jane Sykes, and staff members Rich Larson, Marika Pappagianis, Valerie Wiebe, Julie Burges, and Debbie Thompson.
Congratulations to all the winners:
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Rachel Smith Award Winner
Brenda Keegan (Emergency and Critical Care Service)
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Large Animal Staff Award Winner
Marika Pappagianis (Large Animal Staff Supervisor)
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Small Animal Staff Award Winner
Brandie Cates (Emergency and Critical Care Service)
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Client Services/Administrative Staff Award Winner
Kaitlin Zuwala (Internal Medicine Service Referral Coordinator)
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Support Services Staff Award Winner
Michelle Solorio (Diagnostic Imaging Service)
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Facilities Update:
- Thank you for your continued patience during the VMTH elevator renovation project. Following completion of the west elevator at the end of June, the project moved to the final stage of renovating the north elevator in the main VMTH lobby. Thank you for everyone’s work to successfully transition SAC check-in to the east entrance during this time.
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VMC Update:
- The selection of a contractor for the Veterinary Medical Center’s All Species Imaging Center (ASIC) was recently completed. Construction staging for the ASIC project is expected to begin in August.
- In preparation for the ASIC construction—where the east and south loading dock of the VMTH will be greatly impacted—the dumpsters for trash and cardboard have been moved to the ground adjacent to the east retaining wall. In addition, to ensure the safety of the dock, it has been equipped with a chain guardrail and the east door to the dock has restricted access. To empty trash or recyclables, please utilize the ramps on the east side of the VMTH, outside of the dock area.
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VMTH Committee Update:
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Graduate Clinical Education Committee – The Graduate Clinical Education Committee was established to evaluate, make recommendations, and approve the academic content of new and existing graduate clinical education programs, and assure that these programs meet the Academic Guidelines for Clinical Education Programs. Working together with the Director of House Officer Affairs, this committee also develops metrics for determination of house officer training positions offered within the VMTH and make recommendations to the VMTH Board and VMDO for such positions for annual approval. Over the past year, members of the committee included: Drs. Kevin Woolard (Chair), Linda Barter, Meera Heller, Ron Li, Katie Phillips, Sara Thomasy, Betsy Vaughan, Frank Verstraete, Lance Visser, and staff member Corey Vermilion.
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Wellness Tip of the Month
Florence Soares-Dabalos, MS, LMFT, the VMTH’s client support and wellness professional, offers a brief tip on managing stress through the current crisis. Please see full website of services that Florence offers.
- “As I recently returned to the VMTH in person, I’m discovering the impact the pandemic has had on all of our work lives,” Florence said. “So, this month, I’m encouraging all of us to engage in random acts of kindness. Buy someone behind you in line at Scrubs a cup of coffee; tell your faculty how much you appreciate what they have taught you; congratulate a third-year resident on completing their training; or just give a smile under your mask and say hello as you pass someone in the hall. These small acts of kindness can boost our spirits!”
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