The Department of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston
Department of Pediatrics
The Department of Pediatrics

Biography

 


Ruth Garvey Fleshman, M.S.W., LCSW

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Professional Experience

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Houston Health Science Center
2002 – Present     Clinical Coordinator, Texas Cleft and Craniofacial Team
Coordinate the service delivery to Team patients by the 14 health specialties represented on the Team. Market services to community.  Facilitate communication between patients and practitioners.  Provides information and support for new and prospective parents of infants with cleft and craniofacial disorders.  Educates health providers regarding the special care needs at birth and during early months of life.  Provide the administrative leadership for the team.  Maintain database.  Provide Clinical Social Work and parent education.

UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY OF NEW JERSEY - University Hospital, Newark, NJ
1988 – 2002         Director, Social Work Services Department
Manage a staff of 40 professionals with an operating budget of $1.8 million. Successful proposal writing (approx. $1 million) for competitive grants, plus program design and implementation. Assures compliance with federal and state regulations and accreditation standards. Participates in the completion of applications for government permits and site visit preparation.  Experienced in union contract negotiations and all areas of personnel management and supervision, policy development and interpretation.  Skilled group facilitator, committee chair and project leader.  Duties include coordination of discharge planning program, public entitlement screening and appeals, and administrative rotation as Hospital Administrator-on-Call.  Committees include Clinical Practice, Oncology, Bio Ethics, Quality Council, Patient Education and Utilization Management.  Shared operational responsibility for opening a new Short Term Care Facility for Inpatient Psychiatry and the closing of an outpatient renal dialysis unit.         

SAINT MICHAEL’S MEDICAL CENTER, CATHEDRAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, Newark, NJ
1983-1988            Director, Social Services Department
Responsible for program planning and development of Social Work and discharge planning activities.  Active in grant writing; successfully obtained funding for hospital-wide initiatives including an HIV/AIDS Social Work Program and an Alcohol Detoxification Unit.  Clinical work included group support for AIDS and Cancer patients, smoking cessation programs, and individual counseling services.

ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL CENTER, Orange, NJ and WEST ESSEX GENERAL HOSPITAL, Livingston, NJ
1985-1988            Social Work Consultant
Provided discharge planning consultation to Hospital Administration and clinical supervision to Social Work Staff and Discharge Planners.  Participated in the planning and implementation of the closure plan for a 94-bed hospital.

ST. JAMES HOSPITAL, Newark, NJ 
1977-1983            Manager, Social Services Department
Supervised social work/discharge planning program in a 200-bed hospital, administrative activities of a small outpatient clinic.  Provided direct clinical social work services.  Facilitated Cancer Support Groups.

 ST. JOSEPH’S MEDICAL CENTER, Paterson, NJ 
1980-1982            Psychiatric Social Worker (part-time), Psychiatric Emergency Room
Evaluated patients for voluntary or involuntary psychiatric admissions/commitments.                    


Education/Credentials

M.S.W.    Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work
B.A.  Kent State University - Cum Laude graduation
Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW)
Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (DCSW)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker - State of New Jersey – Board of Social Work Examiners
Licensed Clinical Social Worker – Advanced Clinical Practitioner – State of Texas

Other training/education

Computer skills (WordPerfect, Microsoft Office, customized data bases)
Decisions Near the End of Life - The Hastings Foundation
Goal QPC- Training Tools for Continuous Quality Improvement
Affirmative Action for Managers/Customer Service For Managers
Health Care Re-engineering Workshop - Performance Innovations, Inc.
Re-engineering Demystified- presented by Branson, Inc. Sponsored by J&J
Change Leadership Council - MC Associates
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

Professional Achievements

Recipient “Social Work Director of the Year Award”, Society for Hospital Social Work Directors- NJ Chapter.
Co-chairperson, Field Advisory Board, Rutgers School of Social Work.
Clinical Advisory Board Member- Newark AIDS Consortium.
New Jersey Society for Social Work Administrators in Health Care-Positions held include: President, President Elect, Treasurer, Membership Chairperson, Nominating Chairperson, Special Projects Chairperson.
National AIDS Task Force, Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, American Hospital Association.
Moderator/presenter on Health Information Cable Network program titled “AIDS: Perspectives.”
Co-author of “Discharging Patients: Limiting Length of Stay in a Cost Conscious and Resource Limited Environment” chapter in Hospital Ethics Guide: A Practical Guide to Ethical Thinking and Decision Making . Aspen Press; October 1986.
Instructor, “Discharge Planning for Health Care Professionals”, 1988; Kean College, The Center for Continuing Professional Education.
Instructor, Middle Atlantic Health Congress, 1987 “Discharge Planning with an Urban Population”; 1989 “Innovative Programs with Patient Account Managers”.
Instructor, Legislative Seminar, Biomedical Ethics, May 1989.
Instructor, “Cleft and Craniofacial Team Management”, Houston Association for Communication Disorders,                  November 13, 2004.
Instructor, “Cleft Lip and Palate: A Team Approach”, Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Austin,    April 2, 2005.
Presenter, “Managing Across Institutional Boundaries”, American Cleft Palate Foundation, Philadelphia, PA,
April 15, 2008.

Biography

Dr. Giuseppe N. Colasurdo
  • Ruth Garvey Fleshman, M.S.W., LCSW
    Clinical Coordinator, Texas Cleft and Craniofacial Team
  • Department of Pediatric Surgery
  • University of Texas Medical School at Houston
    6431 Fannin Street, MSB 3.020
    Houston, Texas 77030
  • phone: (713) 664-6275
    fax:
    e-mail: Ruth.G.Fleshman@ uth.tmc.edu