I know, without a doubt, we have the best team in the world right here at Texas Children’s – a fact I was reminded of again and again at all four of the One Mission, One Culture, One Amazing Team events we just hosted at the Main Campus.
Thousands of you came out to celebrate with me, and the room was simply electric. We packed the space, and we filled it with Texas Children’s pride. We also danced a little bit, did some catching up, ate lots of that great maple glazed bacon and those chocolate toffee cookies. And I lost count of all of the selfies we snapped. More than anything, we just had fun. In fact, you can see just how much fun we had in this short video from the first event.
At each of the events, we had anywhere from 800 to more than 1,300 people attend. That’s about how many people we had total in our organization when I joined Texas Children’s almost 26 years ago.
Wow, have we grown! And we’re not just bigger. We’re better, mightier and our vision is bolder. That’s why we are celebrating. We are an incredible team – our employees, physicians, volunteers and board members – and together, we’ve created something so unique here that it is hard to put into words. Some of you described it best on the brainstorming board from the events. You wrote things like “I love my work and my team. They bring joy to my life,” and “We rock every day!” I couldn’t agree more.
The best part, though, has been talking to you. I can’t tell you how great it is to see so many old friends who’ve been here at Texas Children’s for years. I also met a ton of new employees – one was just two hours into her first day on the job. What a treat for me to get to meet her just as she’s beginning to experience what an awesome place this is.
I chatted with Nancy Berges, a pulmonary nurse who worked here from 1992 to 2012. She left when her family moved to Cleveland, Texas, about 60 miles away from Texas Children’s, and she took a job closer to home. But she came back, she said, because Texas Children’s is home. She makes the drive every day and said it’s more than worth it just to be back with her team.
I talked a while with Alexandra Vassiliadis, an administrative assistant in the Central Business Office of Texas Children’s Pediatrics. She’s originally from Greece, and she moved here last year with her husband and baby. Her love and appreciation for her job humbled me. She’d only been in the U.S. four months when she joined Texas Children’s. She said she’d always dreamed of working in a hospital like this and that Texas Children’s has changed her life.
Texas Children’s has changed my life too – you have changed my life. You have been a factor in almost every decision I’ve made in the past 25 years. You are my family, and you are very special to me. And these events are like a family reunion. So even though I very much want our One Mission, One Culture, One Amazing Team events to be a treat for you, I am feeling most grateful to be able to enjoy the good times and special bonds I share with so many of you.
Together, we’ve done so much to impact hundreds of thousands of families. I know that day to day we are primarily focused on the care and tasks at hand, but every now and then, I want you to take a moment and really appreciate what we’re achieving here. That’s what One Mission, One Culture, One Amazing Team is all about.
I can’t wait to see more of you as we continue the events and the tour over the summer. For now, thank you for coming to celebrate with me. Thank you for passionately driving toward the mission every single day. Thank you for this incredible culture we’ve nurtured and grown together. And thank you most of all for being the most amazing team in the world.
We do rock, every single day.
One Mission, One Culture, One Amazing Team tour
One Mission, One Culture, One Amazing Team will hit the road in July, making stops at Texas Children’s Pediatrics practices, Texas Children’s Health Centers, The Center for Children and Women locations and Texas Children’s Urgent Care sites. The tour will continue throughout the fall and winter, until all locations have been visited. Specific details will be communicated to the appropriate leaders of the locations as tour stops are scheduled.
Click here for more information about upcoming One Mission, One Culture, One Amazing Team events.
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