Historic expansion of facilities and development of patient care and financial stewardship initiatives – along with the spirit of collaboration and ingenuity – were recognized May 2 at the UT Southwestern Health System’s Celebration of Excellence.

At the seventh annual event, 199 teams submitted entries for a performance improvement poster competition. Their contributions were focused on projects to improve care in the categories of People, Safety, Quality, Service, and Financial Stewardship. These initiatives led to improved access for patients, shorter hospital stays, and many other areas of growth across the Medical Center’s clinical enterprise.

These individual and team contributions help make the organization strong as a whole, said Jonathan Efron, M.D., Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs. He noted that in 2024, the institution celebrated being named – for the eighth consecutive year – the top hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth by U.S. News & World Report. Eleven of its specialties – the most of any institution in Texas – were ranked in the top 50 of their kind in the country.

Jonathan Efron, M.D., Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs, presented a year in review.

William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital (CUH) and Zale Lipshy Pavilion also served patients well by earning an ‘A’ Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group in the fall of 2024. Among other accolades, in January, UTSW received two awards from Press Ganey: CUH won the Guardian of Excellence Award, and our Multispecialty Clinic earned the Pinnacle of Excellence Award from Press Ganey. The Guardian Award honors the top 5% of health systems annually based on criteria such as patient care, teamwork and engagement, likelihood to recommend, and overall ratings; the Pinnacle recognizes the top four performing health systems nationally for maintaining high levels of excellence over three years in patient experience.

UT Southwestern’s Solid Organ Transplant Program achieved major milestones last year, noted Dr. Efron, including its 5,000th transplant. In fiscal year 2024 alone, 502 solid organ transplants were successfully completed.

“Behind each one of those numbers is a patient, a family, and a story of hope,” Dr. Efron said. “It’s something we never lose sight of.”

In opening remarks to the several hundred attendees gathered in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium, and many more watching the program online, UTSW President Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., addressed all the achievements recognized at the Celebration of Excellence.

“It’s really a special day on campus when we all gather to celebrate our excellent work,” Dr. Podolsky said. “And it’s not just the excellence we aspire to as individuals, but what we do together.”

Watch: Intro, Opening, and Year in Review

Growth and expansion

During his year-in-review address, Dr. Efron outlined the progress of multiple exciting projects.

The most noticeable development at UT Southwestern is the new pediatric hospital rising at the corner of Harry Hines Boulevard and Mockingbird Lane.

Ground was broken in October 2024, and the new facility is expected to open in 2031. The 12-story structure will cover 4.5 million square feet and, Dr. Efron noted, will be taller than the Empire State Building if the New York City landmark were laid on its side – and will have more space than the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The pediatric campus, a partnership with Children’s Health, is just one example of UT Southwestern forging strategic alliances to better serve the people of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, Dr. Efron said.

In the last year, UTSW has deepened its partnership with Texas Health Dallas, building a unified culture to advance shared goals.

A receptive crowd packed the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium on May 2 for the UT Southwestern Health System’s Celebration of Excellence.

Another priority has been to increase imaging capabilities across the Dallas-Fort Worth region. UT Southwestern added a 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine at Medical Center Richardson/Plano and opened an imaging center at the Moncrief Medical Office Building in Fort Worth.

A $177 million Radiation Oncology campus in Fort Worth is expected to open in 2028.

UT Southwestern will soon become the destination of choice for people experiencing prostate cancer in DFW. The UTSW Center for Prostate Cancer Care was recently approved and, when it’s completed, it will accelerate time from diagnosis to treatment, providing patients with unprecedented support and standardized care.

Earlier this year, UTSW-operated clinics within Specialty Center 1 in Plano transitioned to the “collaborative care model” to align the same operating model and one electronic medical record.

The Pediatric Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders was the first in North Texas to use ex vivo gene therapy to treat beta thalassemia.

Recipients of the Poster Presentation competition received awards in the categories of People, Safety, Quality, Service, and Financial Stewardship.

UTSW hasn’t only grown by adding buildings and programs, Dr. Efron noted, but has also recruited or promoted a number of extremely talented individuals to help lead UT Southwestern into the future.

A few examples of those who have come on board or taken on new leadership roles over the past year include: Antonia Chen, M.D., M.B.A., who joined UTSW as Chair and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Ralph DeBerardinis, M.D., Ph.D., who was named Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development; Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D., who was appointed Chair of Microbiology; and Tarek Rajji, M.D., was named Chair and Professor of Psychiatry.

UTSW is also working in the virtual world to increase patient access by enhancing its digital health and virtual care programs. The UTSWMyCare app is the highest rated one of its kind in the U.S. with a rating of 4.8 stars on a five-star scale.

The institution has hosted more than 1.25 million video visits, which represents about 19% of all ambulatory interactions with patients.

Watch: Keynote speaker

Getting social for success

Thomas H. Lee, M.D., M.Sc., opened his keynote address at the Celebration of Excellence by pointing out he’s keenly aware that UT Southwestern is known for not only excellence, but also for its commitment to never rest in the quest for continuous improvement.

And he should know. Among his many titles, Dr. Lee is the Chief Medical Officer for Press Ganey, a health care company that helps hospitals optimize patient experiences and honors the best of those organizations with annual awards.

The physician gave an inspirational talk about how to take that drive for excellence to an even higher level by working to create a culture of social connections that encourage people to trust in each other and look out for them by creating “social capital.”

The concept is the focus of his recent book, Social Capital in Healthcare: How Trust and Teamwork Drive Organizational Excellence.

William Daniel, M.D., Vice President and Health System Chief Quality Officer, hosted the event, sharing team wins in the categories of People, Safety, Quality, Service, and Financial Stewardship.

“What does social capital look like?” Dr. Lee asked the audience. “You know it when you see it: We want to try to make it more reliable. We want to build it in the future ahead. When you see safety huddles with a culture of psychological safety where people feel like they can speak up when they see something that is a potential problem, that’s social capital.”

When people learn they can speak their minds without reprisal, they become more invested in the organization and in each other, Dr. Lee said.

“One simple marker for trusting relationships is when colleagues will say yes without having to know the details,” said Dr. Lee. “You don’t have to negotiate everything because people know they’re in it together and that they’ll get the same kind of response themselves when they need to ask someone. That’s an explicit goal to go for.”

Increasing social connections among colleagues can also increase work satisfaction and employee retention, Dr. Lee said.

One of the best aspects of social capital, Dr. Lee said, is that it’s the only kind of currency you can create for yourself. When financial resources are spent, they’re gone. By continuing to foster positive social connections between colleagues, you not only can make more social capital from scratch, but you can also make it grow exponentially.

Watch: Patient video

Santa in the house

After a break to browse posters and choose the People’s Choice winner, the second half of the Celebration of Excellence resumed with a touching patient video.

Many in the audience were moved to tears by the story of Brent Rasmussen, who has played Santa Claus at Christmas for the past 25 years. After a cerebellum stroke left him unable to speak just before Christmas in 2023, he was afraid he’d ho-ho-hoed for the last time.

Thanks to the rehab therapy team at UT Southwestern, Mr. Rasmussen was able to learn to speak and walk just like he did before.

As a poignant surprise, Mr. Rasmussen was sitting near the front of the auditorium, along with his wife, Tenesa, who plays Mrs. Claus to his Santa. After the video concluded, he stood to acknowledge the audience, prompting a roar of applause and cheers as he punctuated the moment with a hearty “Ho-ho-ho!”

Special guests in the audience included UTSW patient Brent Rasmussen and his wife Tenesa, who were the subjects of a moving video that showcased the power of teamwork in delivering positive health outcomes.

Recognizing the winners

Following Dr. Lee’s inspiring presentation and the traditional “fireside chat” with Health System leaders, poster project winners were announced in the categories of People, Safety, Quality, Service, and Financial Stewardship.

At right, view a list of the winners and a video of the winning poster announcements.

This year, for the first time, a new award was presented for the People’s Choice category. The winner – which was voted on by attendees in real time during the event – was Cancer is Ruff: Utilizing Pet Therapy in an Outpatient Cancer Center, which featured the impacts of Tia the therapy dog.

The winning team of the People’s Choice poster category featured Tia the therapy dog, who earned congratulatory pets from Susan Hernandez, D.N.P., M.B.A., RN, Vice President and Health System Chief Nurse Executive.

The winning team in this category proved to be a true crowd-pleaser when the human colleagues were joined onstage by Tia herself, who stretched and bowed as the audience reacted with delight.

The Celebration of Excellence was created to help UTSW recognize and show appreciation to those who do great work in pursuit of the very best in patient-centered care. Dr. Podolsky noted that the event serves a second purpose of reminding everyone of UTSW’s mission and what UTSW does best.

“In periods of challenge and uncertainty, what is important is to stick with first principles,” he said. “And first principles to us are our commitment to our patients, and to providing the very best care we can, understanding that we do that together and we’re only as good as what we can collectively provide to those patients. So, I think it makes the Celebration of Excellence all the more salient and important this year. Because it will keep us grounded and keep us focused on what is the north star at UT Southwestern.”