Category: Milestones and Achievements

Acclaimed cardiovascular surgeon George Arnaoutakis, MD, has joined the Institute for Cardiovascular Health, a clinical partnership between Ascension Texas and UT Health Austin

Abdominal Transplant Center inspires nonprofit organization to provide bells to transplant centers around the world for living donors and recipients to ring in celebration of treatment milestones.

The Ambulatory Surgery Center at UT Health Austin celebrates two years of outpatient surgery excellence.

UT Health Austin receives a $100,000 grant from the Cardinal Health Foundation to join a national quality improvement collaborative focused on improving suicide care.

On Wednesday, March 2, UT Health Austin pediatric and congenital heart surgeon Charles D. Fraser, Jr., MD, an internationally recognized congenital heart surgeon, was named the inaugural Executive Director of the new Institute for Cardiovascular Health, a collaboration between Ascension Texas and The University of Texas at Austin, which includes the Dell Medical School.

The Abdominal Transplant Center performs its first kidney transplant surgery and altruistic donor surgery, all in the same week.

On December 9, 2021, the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center, a clinical partnership between UT Health Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center, successfully completed its first twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome laser surgery. This complex procedure is performed in utero, and the surgical team was led by UT Health Austin fetal medicine specialist Michael Bebbington, MD, MHSc, who serves as the Co-Director of the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center.

UT Health Austin Digestive Health experts are the first and only in Central Texas to offer transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF), a minimally invasive treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

UT Health Austin and Ascension Seton are excited to announce the opening of the Abdominal Transplant Center, a clinical partnership between Ascension Seton and UT Health Austin that brings specialized teams across healthcare entities together under the mission of transforming healthcare delivery and redesigning the academic health environment to better serve society.

UT Health Austin’s Livestrong Cancer Institutes launches a Young Adult Cancer Program, the only young adult oncology program in Central Texas, to address gaps in cancer care.

The mental and physical effects of music can be powerful and are often wide-ranging, so much so that filling the halls of the Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas with music has become a new initiative of the Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin. Director of Music Services, Mark Bernat, brings music to the the atrium and waiting areas of the Dell Seton Medical Center.

The Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease celebrates 1,000 open-heart surgeries, a milestone achieved sooner than expected.

On July 7, 2021, parents Shelby Herrington and Logan Wade welcomed their daughter Paisley, the first baby born in the new Dell Children’s Specialized Delivery Unit (SDU). The SDU, which opened in early July, and just in time for Paisley’s arrival, is an 11-bed labor and delivery unit that provides immediate comprehensive care to healthy mothers and their high-risk babies at the time of delivery.

UT Health Austin deploys mobile COVID-19 vaccination efforts to ensure vulnerable populations and those in underserved Austin communities have access to the care they need.

The Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease announces a first-of-its-kind educational partnership with the Texas Heart Institute in which student perfusionists will now have the opportunity to perform clinical training in the pediatric clinical setting at Dell Children’s Medical Center.

UT Health Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center are proud to announce that 13-year-old Grace Jennings is home after receiving a long-awaited heart transplant. Grace received her heart transplant on January 26, 2021 after waiting 15 months for a donor heart while on a lifesaving mechanical heart pump.

On January 11, 2021, the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, a clinical partnership between UT Health Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center, successfully implanted its first Berlin Heart ventricular assist device in a pediatric patient.

UT Health Austin is excited to announce the opening of its new on-site Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), which has achieved accreditation through the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). The ASC gives patients and their physicians a convenient and safe alternative for outpatient and selected short-stay surgical procedures.

The Heart Failure, VAD, and Transplant Program, a specialty program within the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, successfully performs their first heart transplant, providing 18-year-old Gerado with a lifesaving heart transplant.

On Monday, December 14, 2020 at 9:30 a.m., UT Health Austin became the first Central Texas medical facility to receive the first round of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. Learn more about UT Health Austin's plans to begin administering vaccinations to frontline healthcare personnel beginning the morning of Tuesday, December 15, 2020.

UT Health Austin's Mitchel and Shannon Wong Eye Institute is officially open, offering specialized ophthalmic care to Central Texas and beyond.

On October 20, 2020, UT Health Austin welcomed a new, full-service H-E-B pharmacy to the first floor of the Health Transformation Building (HTB). In addition to supporting the prescription needs of UT Health Austin patients, the pharmacy is open to the public for their pharmaceutical needs.

UT Health Austin and Ascension Seton are excited to announce a new clinical partnership in Digestive Health that brings specialized teams across healthcare entities together under the mission of transforming healthcare and redesigning the academic health environment to better serve society.

On Friday, July 31, the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, the clinical partnership between UT Health Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center, announced the launch of the first pediatric heart transplant program in Central Texas.

12-year-old Grace Jennings is the first pediatric congenital heart patient in Central Texas to receive a life-saving mechanical heart device to stabilize her heart function. Find out how she has exceeded all expectations and is growing stronger each day.

UT Health Austin partners with Dell Children’s Medical Center to establish the Comprehensive Pediatric Epilepsy Program. This level 4 epilepsy center consists of a team of over 20 specialists, each bringing a unique perspective and skillset to ensure the most well-rounded pediatric care.

3 UT Health Austin doctors recognized as Top Doctors in the January 2018 issue of Austin Monthly magazine.