Saturday, April 19, 2014 • Page 5A
ODC, from P. 1A
CEO, from P. 1A more defined by the things she does not say than by accolades she, rightfully, could proclaim. She does not mention that she’s one of three female CEOs in Memorial Hermann’s conglomerate of 12 reputable hospitals in Houston. She does not mention that she’s the head honcho at an institution that saw more than 11,000 admissions, nearly 50,000 emergency room visits, 31,195 outpatient visits or more than 3,300 surgical cases just last year. No, she’s actually a little sad that her former boss is gone. “Gary and I worked really well together,” Jadlowski recalled. “Even when we didn’t see things eye-to-eye, he always encouraged me to voice my opinions. We talked through every decision. And when this happened [becoming CEO], it was like we were breaking up the team. That was hard.” The team wasn’t just Kerr and Jadlowski. Jeremy Brynes, the director of business development, left for a position with a physician group. Diana Schauer-Tran, marketing director for the Northwest hospital, moved full time to Memorial Hermann’s Katy location. With Jadlowski serving as both Former MHNW CEO COO and chief nursing officer for the Gary Kerr hospital, the management team, sans Jadlowski, was suddenly gone. And that left the new CEO with more than just a hospital to run. In six weeks, she has devoted a large chunk of time to finding colleagues to surround her. Already, Kate Eller has been named the new marketing director. As of press time, an offer had been made to a potential business development candidate. There is an interim CNO and an associate CNO in place and Jadlowski doesn’t seem too concerned about rounding out her team. Maybe that’s why her predecessor, Kerr, knew she would be a perfect fit for this position. “Without a doubt, that was one of the most tight groups of people I have ever worked with,” Kerr said. “We all worked really well together. We had a common vision, focused on expectations and accountability, and Susan was always so much more than just a COO to us. I knew that if I ever walked out the door, she could take over.” For his part, Kerr never planned on leaving the Northwest hospital. He loved it there. “A lot of times, you learn that it isn’t always the job that’s important, but who you work with,” he said. “And in a weird sort of way, I was always afraid that I was going to block [Susan] from getting a CEO job. I knew she would be perfect for the position. She’s ethical, she’s smart, she does things the right way.” Doing it the right way Jadlowski seems to have a firm grip on what’s most important about running a hospital in the heart of one of Houston’s most thriving communities, and she isn’t afraid to make adjustments as she goes. “It is so important for us to serve the community,” she said. “We must have the highest quality of care that we can provide. We have to have the services this community needs.” With a community constantly surging forward – with new families and their new children entering the census – Jadlowski wants to do even more to become the standard-bearer for healthcare in the area. “We’re going to do a community assessment. We’re going to find out what it is that our patients and their families want from us,” she said. “The Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, they’re all changing, and we have to change as well. How can we get the community to think of us as their hospital?” Despite their enormous campus, including a $10 million renovation to the emergency department (and Dr. Christopher Salcedo, more upgrades on the way), JadMHNW chief of staff lowski views the hospital’s reputation as one of her most important jobs. “I think we’re seen as a solid hospital, but I also hear from people who don’t even know that we’re here. They don’t know we’re part of the community.” Part of the reason may be the phenomenal growth of the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and the neighborhoods of North Houston. “About three or four years ago, Gary and I drove around the area, and I remember us talking about how different this community was going to look in eight or nine years,” she said. “Well, all of the things we thought would take that long have already happened. It’s growing so fast, and we’ve got to grow with the community.” Easy Transition Appointing Jadlowski the new CEO was a natural fit both for her and the hospital, according to the former CEO, Gary Kerr. “Susan is committed to making sure that the hospital is what the community expects,” Kerr said. “She has always been the person behind getting the [emergency department] renovations complete and she did an outstanding job.” Jadlowski agrees that the transition has been simpler than bringing in someone from the outside. “The physicians have told me this has been pretty easy for them,” she said. “It’s really important for me to serve my people both inside and outside in the community.” Dr. Christophe Salcedo has been on the medical staff at MHNW since 1998 and currently serves as chief of staff. He was there for the duration of Kerr’s tenure and he likes what he sees from Jadlowski. “We were all very excited to see Susan put in that position. It was the natural route to go,” Salcedo said. “Other than having Gary and Susan together, this was the next-best option.” While Salcedo admits the management styles of Kerr and Jadlowski are a bit different, he said the new boss’s style has been an easy adjustment. “Susan has a background in nursing, so I think some people were concerned with whether she would see things from the physicians’ side,” Salcedo said. “She has been working very close with us, and that’s a good thing.” And Salcedo knows working with physicians isn’t always the easiest thing. “We may act like a bunch of brats sometimes,” he joked. “That doesn’t mean she has to do everything we want, but Susan has a sense of transparency. She’s extremely honest, and if we are in a difficult time, we know she is going to tell us and we can work with that. And if things are good, she’s going to tell us that, too.” Apparently, the appointment of Jadlowski into one of the prominent roles in this community has been good for the hospital and this area’s healthcare.
family owned Hump’s Hamburgers, which further endeared them to the ODC players and their parents. “I still see the kids that played in the league, and they talk to me wherever I am,” said Hughes, who works as a corporate manager for Bechtel Co., an Engineering Construction Company. Hughes put a plan together in the 1980s to save ODC when it was in financial trouble. The players sold candy in an effort to attend a skills clinic put on by Hughes’ brother-in-law, former Astros player and Reagan High graduate Craig Reynolds. Zach Hughes went on to excel as a pitcher for St. Pius X and Vanderbilt University. He’s now a lawyer for Chevron. “I remember always being down there, from age 5 to age 12,” Zach said. “With one exception, my mom and dad were coaching my team all of those years. I feel good for my dad being honored. Now, I understand and appreciate it more.” Both Thompsons played for the Crickets’ T-Ball Team with Jayme starting the sport at 3 years old. Jayme is an infielder, just like her mother was. Hughes coached Amy and her teammates in softball through the year. When St. Pius X had a vacancy for its head softball coach in 1991, Hughes filled the role and coached Thompson and her former ODC teammates to the state championship – which was the last time the program won a state title. “I feel like my childhood was a great one,” said Thompson, who graduated from Texas A&M and now works alongside her father at Bechtel, in the procurement department. “To be able to share those experiences with my daughter has been fun.” A seventh grader at St. Rose of Lima, Jayme finds the same camaraderie and competition in the league that her grandfather and mother did in past decades. “I think it’s cool to know your whole family has been playing at ODC and you’re doing the same thing they have,” said Jayme. “I really like that all of my friends are here and we cheer each other on.” Jayme said she plans on carrying on the family tradition of attending St. Pius X and would like to have her son or daughter become the family’s fourth generation to play at ODC someday.
Stevens Elementary set to build SPARK Park By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
Stevens Elementary got the good news they’d been waiting for in April – the school has officially been selected as a SPARK Park site for 2014-2015. Parent and volunteer Jon Harvey was on the committee who lobbied for the park. “The school and the kids deserve this,” he said. “This park will be what they can say is uniquely theirs. (It’s) a great thing to continue to build school pride around.” There is still work ahead to bring the park to fruition. Stevens did not qualify for federal funding. Principal Lucy Anderson notes that to qualify, 51% of households within a one-mile radius of the school must be classified as low income per the latest census data. Stevens was just out of range at 49.7%. Anderson
said that the number is not determined by the population of the students who attend the school and that most of their students live outside the mile radius requirement. “That does mean that the bulk of the fundraising efforts will fall upon the school,” said Anderson. “Houston ISD will provide $5,000, and SPARK will request $5,000 from Harris County Precinct 2.” Anderson hopes to raise at least $50,000 in additional funds. “The more we raise, the more we can do with the area,” said Anderson. Anderson hopes to get to work with a landscape architect as well as community members to create a plan. She said the school has “lofty” plans for the park. Anderson is reaching out to principals at other SPARK Park schools and hopes to have Stevens’ park complete within two years.
OAKS DADS CLUB TIMELINE
1954 – 1st Baseball Game (Opening Day) 1957 – 1st Football Game 1960 – 1st Softball Game 1966/67 – Football field was built 1968 – Minor Field (now softball field) was built 1969 – 1st Tee ball game and ODC took over the Pony Field on Judiway 1970 – Mike Marshall became the first Head Umpire 1974/75 – 1st Soccer Game 1990 – Wanda Brinkley was the first woman to coach an ODC boy’s baseball team 1995 – 1st Basketball game 2000 – Major Renovations to ODC fields funded by city grant
INTERESTING FACTS
– In 1954 family membership was $5 a family. – The founder of ODC was John Williams (a WWII veteran who lost his leg in France because of a land mine) who also founded Spring Branch Memorial Softball Association. – BJ Thomas (grammy winning music artist) played at ODC in 1954 and ODC is where he got his nickname (BJ) because there were so many Billy Joes on his team. – The first company to advertise at ODC on a field sign was Bud Hatfield Printers (Bud later founded Kwik Kopy). -Shepherd Park Plaza native Gary Majewski grew up playing in ODC and went on to pitch for the Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros. He’s currently the closer for the independent league Sugar Land Skeeters. -Gary Maddox played during the inaugural ODC season of 1954. After graduating from Reagan High, Southwestern University and the University of Texas Law School, he became a lawyer and a judge. Maddox attended the opening ceremonies last month and told the players that ODC had a big impact on his life.
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Crime numbers down 10 percent in the Greater Heights Houston Police Department Officer Steve Duffy of the HPD Heights Storefront, reported that overall crime in the Greater Heights area is down 10 percent from Jan. 1April 15 of 2014, The Greater Heights includes the neighborhoods of the Heights, Clark Pines, Heights West, Park Square, Lower Heights, Montie Beach, East Sunset Heights, Proc-
tor Plaza, Shady Acres, Sunset Heights, and Woodland Heights. Burglary of Motor Vehicles, was the only crime that increased in the area, going from 319 to 348 (nine percent). Auto thefts decreased from 69 to 39 (a 43 percent decrease), and aggravated assaults (29 to 20) and home burglaries (133 to 92) went down by 31 percent.
If you have symptoms of heart attack or stroke, or other life-threatening conditions, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room (ER) immediately. ScheduleNow should only be used if you have a non-life-threatening situation that requires urgent attention.