Children from 20 schools in the Birmingham area turned what is in their hearts into art and created colorful cards for UAB Medicine workers. Morning and evening shift staff will get a handmade valentine along with individually wrapped cookies and popcorn on Sunday, Feb. 14.

We can all agree that 2020 was a difficult year, especially for hospitals and health care workers. But UAB Medicine rose to the COVID-19 challenge, helping UAB earn the No. 1 spot on Forbes magazine’s national list of Best Large Employers for 2021.

During her nearly two decades in Birmingham, UAB Callahan Eye Hospital and Clinics pediatric optometrist Marcela Herrera Frazier, OD, MSPH, has built a successful vision practice and touched the lives of countless children – especially in the local Hispanic community. A Colombian native, she’s earned the trust of the parents and patients alike, and today about 30% of them share her heritage.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortage of clinical staff has been a significant problem for health care organizations. UAB Medicine formed a Pandemic Staffing Task Force to address our nursing shortage, and its call for help received a campus-wide response from nurses, faculty, students, and other staff.

We know you’d go to the ends of the Earth to get the most advanced eye care for your family, but UAB Callahan Eye Hospital & Clinics made sure you don’t have to.

COVID-19 is primarily spread person to person via respiratory droplets or small particles, like aerosols. If infectious respiratory droplets land on objects (such as cash or change), and someone touches the object and then touches his/her mouth, eyes or nose, then he/she may get COVID-19. In general, it is important to maintain excellent hand hygiene, especially after touching commonly used items, such as money.

Studies are ongoing to determine whether nutritional supplements such as zinc have an effect on people with COVID-19.

According to a study published in The Lancet Microbe, under various environmental conditions, no infectious COVID-19 virus could be found on treated wood after two days.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), if you test positive for COVID-19 but do not have symptoms or ever develop symptoms, then in most cases you should isolate for 10 days from the date of the positive test.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), in general, if someone tested positive for COVID-19 and had symptoms, then he/she can be around others once 10 days have passed since symptoms began, and he/she is without fever for 24 hours (without using fever-reducing medications), and any other COVID-19 symptoms are improving. These recommendations do not apply to those who have a severe case of COVID-19 nor to people who are immunocompromised.

People with COVID-19 may be asymptomatic or have symptoms that range from mild to severe. It is difficult to predict when a person may experience the most severe symptoms after a positive test.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death, so it’s important to keep track of your heart’s state of health. Getting regular checkups with your doctor is the best way to do that. It’s also a good idea to understand the basic “heart-health numbers,” which are measures of cardiovascular fitness and may indicate risks for certain medical conditions.