It was only a year ago that Healing Hands Ministries (HHM) Founder/CEO/President Janna Gardner was escorting the Crystal Charity Ball members on a tour of HHM’s Vickery Meadows facilities. The patient-centered community health center had just been selected as one of the 2020 CCB beneficiaries.
Just nine months later, in November, the Lake Highlands Advocate’s Carol Toler reported, “The board of directors at Healing Hands Ministries has dismissed president and CEO Janna after 14 years leading the nonprofit. Chief Operating Officer Jason Wallace will serve as executive in charge until a new president can be hired, according to an Oct. 30 letter sent to clinic employees.”
The new CEO has just been announced. It will be healthcare executive Brian A. Hawkins, who has most recently served as president and CEO of Family Health Centers in Baltimore.
According to HHM Board Chair Adam Chabira, “We are thrilled to welcome Brian Hawkins, who brings not only impressive qualifications and experience, but also a heart for community and commitment to the relationship-centered care that is so central to our mission. We have accomplished great things in 14 years — having started with a single clinic with all-volunteer physicians to now caring for thousands each year across seven clinical service lines with a staff of over 100 – and we are excited to see what is ahead with Brian at the helm.”
Having earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Science from Southern Illinois University and a Masters of Health Administration from Governors State University, Brian “spent 27 years serving our nation’s veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs, culminating with a seven-year term as CEO of the District of Columbia VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Hawkins previously served in numerous other leadership positions with the VA, including medical centers across the country where he was tapped to head-up and improve operations, including most recently, Muskogee, Okla., Baltimore, and Nashville, Tenn.”
Brian said, “I am honored to join Healing Hands Ministries at a time when compassionate, quality healthcare is in even greater need as families recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am looking forward to being a part of a worthy mission that is actively changing lives and serving an incredible community.”
In his new role, Brian will be responsible for HHM’s mission to “provide compassionate, accessible and quality healthcare through more than 42,000 annual patient visits with uninsured and underinsured patients at its two campuses.”
Married with two children, Brian will begin his new role in early May.
* Graphic/photo provided by Healing Hands Ministries