Since U Asked ...

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Q. I work in the Medical School. Do you know whether those of us with old ID badges are ever going to get the newer ones?

A. The snazzy new teal badges with the digital photos are the fashion hit of the Health System -- it seems everybody wants them.

Linda Moore of Facilities Services, who is heading up the ID badge replacement project, says she is working as fast as she can. As you might imagine, replacing badges for every one who works in the Health System, including its affiliated clinics, is a massive job, especially when combined with providing new badges for nursing and medical students, new hires, outside contractors and those who have lost their old badges, to name just a few.

"I also have other work to do," she added.

The ID replacement project started in July. Moore's office established a priority list; as of late last week, all of the satellite facilities had been completed, and she had made major inroads into patient care personnel. She had completed work on four floors of the hospital and parts of others.

The most time-consuming part of the project is updating the employee database, not the actual picture-taking and badge-making, she said. She must review employees' names and job titles before making the IDs.

She'll roll her mobile unit into the halls of the Medical School sometime late this year or early next, she said.