Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UT Health San Antonio has served as a leader to educate people on how to stay safe, to care for those battling the virus, to discover the best treatments and vaccinate hundreds of thousands of individuals.
UT Health San Antonio faculty, staff, students, residents and fellows were recently recognized with a Star Award by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The 2021 Star Awards recognized institutions of higher education for outstanding efforts to respond to COVID-19.
These awards honored institutions that ensured the health, safety and success of their campus community through innovative approaches and local partnerships. Jacquelyn Mok, PhD, vice president for Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs, accepted the Star Award on our university’s behalf at the 2021 Higher Education Leadership Conference.
UT Health San Antonio has led the fight against COVID-19 by implementing strategies to support the health and safety of faculty, staff, students and the community.
The pandemic highlighted to the greater San Antonio community and the surrounding region, the critical importance of academic health centers such as UT Health San Antonio, whose missions of education, biomedical research, clinical care and community engagement are vitally important to the ever-changing world in which we live.
In all efforts, the university led by working with numerous partners across the regional community in collaborative and innovative ways.
Here are just a few highlights of UT Health San Antonio’s response against COVID-19 and service to the region during this unprecedented time:
- Provided more than 200,000 COVID-19 vaccination doses to internal and external community members.
- Set up and operated a COVID-19 hotline responding to more than 20,000 calls.
- Administered more than 30,000 COVID-19 tests on the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Campus.
- Developed an accurate test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus; performed more than 47,000 tests on nasopharyngeal swabs with a turnaround time of less than 24 hours.
- Students across the health professions took an active role in hospital COVID patient care.
- Students created the COVID-19 Infectious Diseases Virtual Outpatient Clinic to provide patient counseling.
- 80 faculty experts served the public of San Antonio and surrounding region by sharing important COVID information via the news media on TV, radio, print digital and social platforms.
In their efforts to fight COVID-19, our faculty, staff, students, residents and fellows demonstrated resolve, resiliency and a commitment to health care and the community. Every day they work tirelessly to make a safer and healthier community and make lives better.
Watch the video: Impact: the battle response of UT Health San Antonio against COVID-19
Read Impact Magazine: Our response in the battle against COVID-19 and the stories that inspire us