December 02, 2020

When did you join UTHealth? What brought you here?
I joined UTHealth on July 18, 2006. What brought me here to UTHealth was that the company I was working for was sold, and they were going to move the office to Herndon, Virginia. I’ve lived in Houston all my life – since I was 6 months old – so I wasn’t ready to leave. During my brief time off, I found the UTHealth receiving supervisor position was available. So, I applied and within a day or so I had my interview. Well, here I am.

Tell me about your work history here.
A few years after getting hired on as the supervisor of the Medical School receiving department, they combined the Medical School and Sarofim Research Building/Institute of Molecular Medicine  (SRB/IMM) loading docks together. Once they did that, I became the manager of both loading docks.  Currently, there are four personnel at the med school loading dock, which includes me, and two at the SRB/IMM loading dock.  Besides doing receiving, I also manage the UT Supply Mall, which is like small store located near the Medical School Building loading dock. Open 24/7, even on holidays, this is where labs can purchase anything from media, enzymes, gloves, bleach, and kits, to plastics or tubes, petri dishes, and various other things. Labs make these purchases on an account attached to a chartfield string.

What are you most proud of accomplishing?
Since the beginning of this pandemic, my department has become the hub for all the personal protective equipment (PPE) that is being shipped to all the UT Physicians clinics and also to the UTHealth schools located throughout the Texas Medical Center. As it sounds, this has been a daunting task but along the way we had help — in the beginning, from Capital Assets Management team, which is led by Heide Hellriegel. Since then, my team and I have streamlined this process, along with help from Damon Soto, into having two fill order days. On Tuesdays, we fulfill requests for PPE from clinics that are outside of the med center, and on Wednesdays, we fill the orders for clinics within the medical center. Knowing that we are helping the clinics get the PPE they need to help us get through this time feels like an accomplishment.

How has the university changed since you first joined?
From when I started, they were just building the Medical School Expansion building and had just finished up the SRB/IMM building. Since that time, we have built a new dentistry school and the Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences building. Along with those two, UTHealth has expanded HCPC to make it one of the largest psychiatric centers to help those in need. With the university growing the way it is, it’s helping the students learn new techniques to help them in future to help us in the long run.  UTHealth is also improving technology on the administrative side as the university moves from PeopleSoft to Coupa for all procurement processes.

Why have you stayed?
Different people have different reason for staying, but for me it has to be my co-workers. When I say co-workers, it’s not just the people I work with every day but the people I interact with when I go upstairs to deliver a package to, or talk to someone I know for a quick chat in the hallway or office.

When you are not at work, how do you spend your time?
I mostly spend my time off with friends and family. During football season, you will catch me at UH football games cheering on my Cougars. On some weekends, I will go out of town to our ranch to spend some time out there to relax and to reenergize myself.