When Hurricane Ike struck the Texas Gulf Coast in September 2008, it dealt a crushing blow to coastal communities, and lashed with crippling fury at much of the greater Houston area. On Galveston Island, a wave of tidal surge washed across the island, flooding most of the 90-plus acres that make up the UTMB campus.
Faculty, staff and students responded with the skill, heart and resolve that have characterized the university and its people for 118 years, and their efforts have resulted in a rate of recovery few disaster-stricken communities or institutions can claim.
Featuring a diverse and highly skilled health workforce, research programs that advance patient care and attract millions in funding to Texas each year, and vibrant schools of medicine, nursing, health professions and biomedical sciences, UTMB has much to offer as a place to make a professional home and to build a career.
UTMB currently has a talented workforce of more than 10,500 people, with a majority of staff employed in the university’s Health System.
More than 3,000 babies have been delivered in Galveston since October; Ob-Gyn beds opened within one month of the storm. John Sealy Hospital, UTMB’s primary inpatient facility, reopened January 5 with an initial configuration of 200 full-service beds (now at 300 and more are coming online). About 80 on- and off-island clinics currently offer a full range of primary and specialty services. The university’s Trauma Center, ranked first in the nation for survival rates before the storm, is scheduled to reopen this summer.
