We did it

(Left to right) John T. Montford, chair of the Campaign for the Future of Health, stands with President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP; Ed Kelley, chair of the President’s Development Board; and Deborah H. Morrill, M.S., vice president for institutional advancement and chief development officer.

A decade ago we undertook the mission of raising millions of dollars to support the exceptional work we do here, from research and education to patient care and community service.

We did not just meet our goal, we surpassed it. We made history. The importance of the work we do here is vital: changing lives, saving lives, educating new generations of health care professionals. We offer hope, enlightenment and futures. Our community knows this. You know it. That is why we were able to eclipse our goal, not by a few hundred dollars, but by $100 million.

Saying thank you is not sufficient. What we can do is promise you that your support will be reciprocated through our unwavering commitment to our patients, our students, our community and to scientific advancement. You have entrusted us with this support and you have our pledge to work tirelessly to achieve success in each of our missions.

This issue of Mission illustrates our promise of excellence to you. There is the story of Gerald Pineda, featured on the cover with his son, Jackson, who knew even before his son was born that Jackson would someday need a kidney transplant. His future was uncertain, but one thing wasn’t: Gerald would do whatever was needed to keep his son alive. Days before his son’s 10th birthday, Gerald was wheeled into an operating room where doctors took one of his kidneys and transplanted it into his son. Today, Jackson is a teenager and leads a healthy and normal life.

Our doctors who practice at the University Transplant Center, just one example of our partnership with University Hospital, made the Pineda family’s story a success story. But it certainly is not the only one. The University Transplant Center holds a 100 percent survival rate for pediatric kidney transplants.

Then there is Lt. Col. Alan Peterson, Ph.D., who uses his own experiences serving in battlegrounds overseas to lead his quest to find a cure, not simply a treatment, for post-traumatic stress disorder.

We make lives better, every day, and this impact extends across the globe. Thanks to members from our Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics, communities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are fighting to stop the outbreak of diseases such as cholera through education about sanitation, hygiene and water purification. We also have researchers who travel around the world seeking treatments and cures for the most deadly of diseases.

These are just a few of the stories we have to tell at the Health Science Center. They exemplify the promise we made at the founding of this university 55 years ago. And by relating those stories, we are also saying “thank you” for believing in and supporting the Health Science Center and our mission.

We will continue on this path of excellence that you have supported. We won’t let you down.

We did it, we met our goal. And our work continues.

Sincerely,

William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP
President
Professor of Medicine
UT Health Science Center at San Antonio