Eighteen staff members from USF Health were among the several dozen USF employees honored April 29 with Outstanding Staff Awards.

Each year, USF employees from across campus are selected to win the award, which recognizes those who demonstrate excellence and performance that supports the overall values and standards of USF.

This year, seven individual USF Health staff members and three teams of USF Health staff won awards for their outstanding work in 2013. At the event, each employee was spotlighted as he or she received a plaque and a check for $500. Donna Petersen, interim senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the USF College of Public Health, presented the awards to USF Health awardees.

USF Health individual awardees are:

Roberta (Bobby) Collins – Project manager and educational coordinator for Undergraduate Medical Education, Office of Educational Affairs, Morsani College of Medicine

Anne Gallacher – Director of Research Administration, College of Public Health

Kymia Love Jackson – Associate director of Pharmacy Financials and coordinator of Research, College of Pharmacy.

Ellen Kent – Coordinator, USF Health Service Corps.

Angela Moore – Academic services administrator for Athletic Training, Morsani College of Medicine

Thomas Rogers – Office manager, College of Pharmacy

Alice Wei – Webmaster, USF Health Information Systems

USF Health team awardees are:

College of Nursing Educational Design Team includes: Oma Singh, Vincent Saadeh, Marianne Goosens, Alisha Talley.

Office of Research and Innovation Comparative Medicine Team includes: Jade Buchanan, Christine Besnier, Todd (TJ) Casagni, Eva Quintero.

Public Health Healthy Kids and Kidcare Team includes: Rosemarie Sledge, Joel Velasco, Brian Kirk.

Photos by Aimee Blodgett, USF Marketing and Communications

Dr. Mehmet Oz watches as USF medical student Adam Schwartz draws from blood from a health screening participant.

USF Health was out in force to assist Dr. Oz when he visited Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute July 12 as part of his nationwide tour checking the health of key metropolitan areas, including Tampa Bay.  Nearly five dozen USF nursing, medical and public health students, with some residents and faculty, volunteered for “Dr. Oz’s 15-Minute Physical” event.   From early morning to afternoon, they helped screen pre-registered Tampa Bay area residents for potential indicators of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, enter data into laptop computers, and explain results.

Mehmet Oz, also known as Dr. Oz, is a Turkish-American cardiothoracic surgeon, author, and television personality. Starting on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2004, Dr. Oz quickly became a leading health expert for a national audience, earning two Emmy Awards for his program, The Dr. Oz Show.

USF nursing student Matthew Hester pricks a finger for a blood sugar screening.

At Florida Hospital, an estimated 1,000 Tampa Bay area residents participated in the free 15-minute screenings, which measured cholesterol  and blood sugar levels as well as blood pressure, body mass index, waist size and neck circumference.  Florida Hospital, a strategic healthcare partner of USF Health, hosted the event along with Practice Fusion, a provider of free web-based electronic health records.

The USF Health volunteers, specifically trained for the 15-Minute Physical screening format, helped participants understand the results and whether they were good, borderline, or required further attention. Dr. Oz’s team is expected to analyze the cumulative results, noting averages, trends and other significant data points that will provide a “report card” on Tampa’s health.

USF nursing student Morgan Schmoll takes a waist measurement.

“It was a great opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills that our students learn in a classroom setting to patients in the community, before they are hospitalized in an acute care setting,” said Cheryl Zambroski, PhD, assistant dean of undergraduate studies at the USF College of Nursing.  “These activities help reinforce the critical need for prevention and screening to promote health in the community.”

“We greatly appreciate all of our volunteers for this collaborative service event between USF Health and Florida Hospital Tampa,” said Ellen Kent, coordinator for the USF Health Service Corps, which spearheaded the volunteer effort. “It is wonderful to see that we have had such a positive response and we thank our community partners at Florida Hospital for inviting us to participate in this amazing event!”

An estimated 1,000 Tampa Bay residents participated in the “Dr. Oz 15-Minute Physical” event at Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute. USF Health students volunteered at the free health screenings.

USF nursing students Tracey Spronatti, left, and Laura McKenna, right, with VA Nurse Academy faculty member Betsy Keller.

Dr. Oz with USF medical student Adam Schwartz, Class of 2015

 Photos above by Eric Younghans/USF Health Communications
Click here to view photo album by Ellen Kent/USF Health Service Corps