UF Health’s Rick Stevens, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, has performed Northwest Florida’s first kidney transplant as part of a collaboration between UF Health and Sacred Heart Health System in Pensacola. On Feb. 2, Renwick Avant, 47, of Pensacola, received a new kidney at the hands of Stevens, a professor in the UF College of Medicine’s division of transplantation surgery, and Sacred Heart vascular surgeon Christopher LeCroy, M.D. In October 2016, UF Health and Sacred Heart Health System launched the collaborative kidney transplant program. — Karin Lillis

Jane Chu, the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, visited the UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital on  Feb. 21 to learn about Music in Urgent and Emergent Settings, a UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine project that uses music, visual arts and performing arts to enhance the hospital experience of patients and families. In 2015, the UF Center for Arts in Medicine received a $25,000 grant from the NEA to study the effects of live music in emergency room operations. — Greg Hamilton

The Joint Commission has awarded UF Health North a Certificate of Distinction for advanced certification as an Acute Stroke Ready facility. The commission based its decision on a review of UF Health North’s compliance with national standards, clinical guidelines and outcomes of care. “We are incredibly proud of this recognition from The Joint Commission because it once again shows just how dedicated we are when it comes to our patients,” said Russ Armistead, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville.  — Dan Leveton