Manny Alfaro

Manny Alfaro is a Monitor Technician in the Intensive Care Unit at Zale Lipshy University Hospital. During his career, Mr. Alfaro’s cheerful and giving personality has been noticed – he has been named Employee of the Month at Zale Lipshy as well as Employee of the Quarter at UT Southwestern. First hired as a Unit Secretary in September of 1990, he has a degree in biology with a minor in chemistry and plans to continue his education. Little known facts? “Growing up, I was an altar boy and made the rank of Eagle [with the Boy Scouts of America].” Mr. Alfaro – whose family includes two brothers and two sisters – enjoys swimming, working out, cooking, volunteering, and dancing.

Tina Bargmann

Tina Bargmann is a Patient Navigator Lead in Patient-Physician Referral Services. In this Office of Vice President for Clinical Operations position, she helps clients transition from in-patient to out-patient, making sure they have the necessary follow-up information to continue their rehabilitation. Ms. Bargmann’s first job at UT Southwestern was Manager of the Vascular Surgery Clinic and Services. Making a patient or colleague laugh or smile makes her happy. “The patients and the service we provide has kept me at UT Southwestern,” she says. “We have an outstanding group of caregivers.” Not shy about jumping in with both feet, she says she is 100 percent invested in the program and is a strong advocate for her patients. Ms. Bargmann says coming to work is like the TV show, Cheers – where everyone knows your name. She is an avid gardener and enjoys raising dogs with her husband, Rick.

Joyce Blanks

A Telemetry Technician in William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital’s Central Monitoring Department, Joyce Blanks works to be detailed, organized, and inspiring to others. Ms. Blanks joined UT Southwestern in 1990 as a Nursing Assistant. She has stayed because “UT Southwestern takes care of its employees. It has excellent standards and we use the latest and newest technologies in health care.” After 25 years, she still wants to be known as “the best team player in the Department, always willing to help others.” She said most people don’t know that she once was a bank bookkeeper “but I found that my true calling was to work in the medical field.” Ms. Blanks has two adult children, a daughter and a son.

Deborah Broom

Senior Accounting Clerk Deborah Broom delivers outstanding service to UT Southwestern Medical Center and has the awards to prove it, having earned the Diana and Richard C. Strauss Service Award and PACT Recognition. “On a daily basis, I truly strive to be the change I wish to see in the world,” she says. “And to be recognized for something that I do daily lets me know that my labor is not in vain.” Ms. Broom says her colleagues in University Hospital Administration – Finance know her as “a team player, because I truly believe in helping others and know that there is no ‘I’ in team.” Ms. Broom, who has four children and eight grandchildren, is a member of the Inspiring Body of Christ Church, where she serves in leadership and sings in the choir.

Suzie Carter

Suzie Carter is the Administrative Associate for the Department of Urology’s Clinic as well as the Clinical Research Clinic in the James W. Aston Ambulatory Care Center. She began her career at UT Southwestern as an Administrative Assistant for Drs. John D. McConnell and Glenn M. Preminger. She is known as the go-to person for handling everything from ordering/accounts payable issues to time-keeping questions and broken equipment. Despite her multi-faceted job requirements, she always makes time to talk to her colleagues. In her spare time, Ms. Carter does bookkeeping and payroll for Restoration Ministry, an orphanage, clinic, and battered women’s shelter in Peru. She and her husband, Brian, have two daughters and two grandchildren. She says friends and family have to remind her that in discussing her work, she needs to remember her conversational filters!

Kevin Coologhan

Kevin Coologhan says “the challenging work and good people” have kept him at UT Southwestern Medical Center for the past 25 years. As a Senior Information Resources Manager in Information Resources/Systems & Operations, Mr. Coologhan helps to ensure that the IR Systems and Operations Database and SharePoint teams are operating fully and optimally. He began his UT Southwestern career in December of 1990 as a Software Systems Specialist.

Robin Downing

For Robin Downing, life at UT Southwestern has always been interesting. The Administrative Coordinator for the Medical Scientist Training Program, Ms. Downing says her best career memory was the day Dr. Alfred Gilman received notice that he was to share the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her office, adjacent to the late Nobel Laureate’s, provided an up-close view of Medical Center history. “It was pandemonium the entire day, but in a great way,” Ms. Downing recalls. “It’s never boring around here.” Ms. Downing also remembers being asked for directions to the A.W. Harris Faculty Club by 1992 Presidential candidate Ross Perot, and seeing Neiman-Marcus founder Stanley Marcus walking across the plaza. “You never know who you might see,” she says. In her spare time, Ms. Downing enjoys traveling, Bible study and spending time with her dog, Thunder.

Rick Early

An Enterprise Systems Administrator III for Citrix, Rick Early credits his co-workers for a long career. “I’ve enjoyed all the great people that I have worked with over the years and the opportunity to use my creative and problem-solving skills,” he says. Mr. Early began his career at UT Southwestern in 2003 as the third-shift Computer Operator at Zale Lipshy University Hospital before eventually moving up to his current position in the Information Resources Department. Mr. Early says his most rewarding work during the past 25 years is “my work on the Windows 7 upgrade project and the implementation of the Dell KACE system.” His long-term goal is to advance to a Systems Engineer position.

Ronald Fischer

Ask Operating Room Attendant Ronald Fischer about his family and he lists his co-workers right alongside his child, 14-year-old daughter Christina. Mr. Fischer has been assisting OR nurses during his entire tenure at UT Southwestern, but says he would like to someday become an anesthesia technician. Now serving at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, he says people might be surprised to know that he was born at St. Paul University Hospital with an identical twin, Donald. Mr. Fischer says his colleagues would describe him as “a team player” and credits them as the reason for his long career at the Medical Center. “UT Southwestern has the very best doctors, nurses, secretaries, and housekeepers in North Texas,” he says. In his spare time, Mr. Fischer enjoys fishing, gardening, and shopping.

Deirdra L. Gaines

Deirdra L. Gaines says she would like to be known as the employee who “had a smile for everyone and inspirational and encouraging words to say.” As a Reimbursement Specialist in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ms. Gaines is responsible for ensuring that office and surgery charges are sent out correctly to insurance companies. Ms. Gaines began her career at the James W. Aston Ambulatory Care Center, and hopes to stay at UT Southwestern until she retires because of “my boss, wonderful co-workers, employee benefits, and location.” In her spare time, Ms. Gaines enjoys skating and trying new healthy recipes. She says her co-workers would describe her as “supportive and very family oriented.” Recently, Ms. Gaines and her husband of 26 years, Curtis, hosted a reunion for more than 150 family members. The couple has two adult children and two granddaughters.

Peter Harris

Peter Harris, Program Manager of the Chemical Safety Program at UT Southwestern, considers himself a positive person. “Always look for the best in the people you come in contact with showing compassion and respect,” he says. “Seek to find the positive in all of life issues no matter the circumstance.” Mr. Harris supervises the hazardous waste, lab survey, and indoor air quality programs as well as equipment decontamination certification and chemical inventory. His most rewarding memory is being part of the Medical Center’s employee appeals committee. Mr. Harris’ long-term goal is to pursue a Master of Divinity in Christian Philosophy and Apologetics. Away from work, he enjoys spending time with Doris, his wife of 36 years, their three children, and four grandchildren.

Songsak Hayachanta

Songsak Hayachanta is an Advanced Operating Room Surgical Technician, working in the Department of Surgery at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital – “a great hospital,” he says. His job entails being a scrub in operating room, particularly for endovascular cases. He started his career at UT Southwestern in January of 1990 as a Medical Attendant. He says the Medical Center’s stellar reputation is one of the main reasons he enjoys his work. Mr. Hayachanta is married. Away from work, he has been known to play the erhu, a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more commonly called a spike fiddle, and sometimes referred to in the Western world as a Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle.

Terri Homme

Ask Department of Information Resources colleagues to describe Terri Homme and you will get responses that range from “team player” to “Wonder Woman.” That’s how highly regarded the Senior Administrative Associate has become in her career at UT Southwestern. “It’s hard to believe how much we’ve grown over the last 25-plus years,” she says. “Our Department has grown to well over 50 people. It’s been gratifying to work in a state-of-the-art facility such as UT Southwestern.” An avid bowler, Ms. Homme boasts a high game of 289 and participates in a Thursday night league with some of her co-workers. She has been married to her husband, Gunnar, for eight years and has two children, Hayden, 19, and Holly, 18.

Lisa Renee Horton

Lisa Renee Horton is a Senior Administrative Assistant in the Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics. In this job, she provides administrative support for the epilepsy physicians within the Department. Her first job at UT Southwestern was with Patient Collections at Medical Services, Research and Development Plan. Ms. Horton is passionate about her job and is always happy to listen to her colleagues. She enjoys the stability of working at UT Southwestern, as well as its benefits. Still, she says, “I see retirement in a couple of years.” Ms. Horton is looking forward to the high-school graduation of her daughter, Victoria, this spring, and to her next chapter.

Linda Anderson

Bruce Clark

Faye Collins

Joyce Curlee