Underwood Center for

Digestive Health

As the heat and humidity of a Houston summer drew to an end, we marked the dawn of a new academic year and with it new, enthusiastic and talented fellows and residents. At a time when gastroenterology is witnessing significant manpower challenges, it is more important than ever that we recruit the best and the brightest into our training programs and provide them with a robust and thorough educational experience throughout their time with us. They may well be your future colleague or personal gastroenterologist. Education is an essential component of “Leading Medicine” and is enshrined in the vision motto of the Underwood Center. Though still a relatively young program, we continue to expand our training opportunities by adding advanced fellowships in Transplant Hepatology, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Advanced Endoscopy, and have now graduated fellows in all three areas. One of the ambitions of the Underwood Center is to expand the GI fellowship program to encompass the entire HM system and provide exposure to the practice of gastroenterology across all our hospitals and clinics to our trainees—a work in progress.

I’m thrilled that HMH has been ranked No. 7 in the nation for GI and GI Surgery—a tremendous recognition of the dedication, innovation and excellence across our teams. Our collaboration in colorectal surgery, with a sharp focus on SSI reduction and ERAS protocols, is driving meaningful change. The new Bariatric Surgery System Quality Dashboard, spearheaded by Dr. Vadim Sherman, offers clear visibility into not only hospital outcomes but also procedure-specific surgery outcomes. The Dashboard promotes identifying best practices and collaboration across the Underwood Center. We’re proud to share that the Pancreas Cyst Clinic is now fully functional, enhancing our ability to deliver coordinated, high-quality care. The Clinic represents major advances in Pancreatic Cancer prevention and increases the multidisciplinary collaboration between our Underwood physicians and surgeons. In Upper GI and reflux surgery, we’re leading with robotic techniques and seeing strong growth in volume—another area where collaboration with GI has elevated our surgical program. Our Patient Experience scores remain consistently high, reflecting the exceptional skill, dedication, and compassionate care delivered by our teams across the system. Thank you all for your continued dedication and excellence. Let’s keep pushing forward.