West Campus leaders receive heartfelt goodbye

December 23, 2014

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Michelle Riley-Brown and Dr. Charles Hankins received a heartfelt goodbye December 16 from the people they have served during the past four years at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

The farewell came as a surprise to the leaders, who will be moving to Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands at the beginning of the new year. Soon after they arrived at what they thought was a routine leaders meeting, a room packed with colleagues directed their attention to a video about the history of West Campus and how Riley-Brown and Hankins have been key to its success.

“The Woodlands is lucky to get such a great team,” one employee said in the video.

“It’s because of you that we are the best of the west,” another employee said.

“Please come back!” another employee jokingly pleaded.

With tears in their eyes, Riley-Brown and Hankins watched the video and the many other gestures of appreciation their colleagues made during the hour-long affair.

Some of those gestures include:

  • A framed photo of a large group of West Campus employees standing next to a large “Thank You” sign.
  • A T-shirt with Riley-Brown’s signature saying, “That’s how we roll.”
  • The unveiling of a “That’s how we roll” program that will give children coming into the hospital the opportunity to hitch a ride to their appointment in a toy car.
  • The announcement that Riley-Brown and Hankins are the Best of the West winners for the month of December.

“I am going to miss every one of you,” Riley-Brown said at the meeting. “It’s been a true blessing working with you.”
Hankins said he would take all of his colleagues at West Campus with him to The Woodlands if he could, but that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

“The reason I wanted to go to The Woodlands is because I didn’t want to compete, I wanted to cooperate,” he said. “We all are going to work together to make Texas Children’s better for the whole community.”

Riley-Brown will become president of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, and Hankins will become chief medical officer of the institution, which will open its doors to outpatient care in the fall of 2016 and inpatient services the following year. Riley-Brown and Hankins will assume their new roles in January.