TMC PULSE

t m c n e w s . o r g t m c n e w s . o r g 32 Roberts had two choices: Shut the hospital down or make the tough decisions required to keep the hospital open and serve the city of Houston during the Great Depression. "They tell stories of how the hospital had a $7,000 laundry bill and she basically said, 'You're over- charging me. I'm going to put this out to bid,' and indeed she did. … She ended up driving down the price of laundry and she did those things throughout the institution," Boom said. "She had to slash salaries a little bit and she made sure that money that was owed to them was collected. She did things that other people didn't necessarily want to do. … Her predecessor didn't want to ask patients for payments because they were Methodist and he didn't want to offend them, but she wasn't afraid to do that." Yet Roberts knew no expense should be spared when it came to keeping talent. When a disillu- sioned Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., was looking for a new place to train Baylor College of Medicine stu- dents, Roberts, knowing there was no money in the budget, offered to install air conditioning in the oper- ating room if he would come to work at Methodist Hospital. "She always said to find people who are passionate about what they do, give them some tools to succeed, give them some goals and get out of their way and let them do great things. That is one of the many things I have learned from her," Boom said. World War II pulled the country out of the Great Depression and Roberts helped Methodist Hospital survive it. When she learned of a bold new local project—a plan to gather medical education and patient care into one physical location called the Texas Medical Center—Roberts saw the future for Methodist Hospital. "That seems like such an obvi- ous choice today, going to the Texas Medical Center," Boom said. But [Methodist] had a successful site and hospital at the corner of San Jacinto and Rosalie, and here was this untried, untested, novel idea of the Texas Medical Center. I seriously doubt even she had any inkling of what the Texas Medical Center would become, but she did recognize the right thing to do was to be part of the medical center and, hence, we are one of the founding members." Roberts had already formed a close partnership with Ella Fondren, who took her husband's seat on Methodist's board in 1939. (Walter Fondren, Sr. co-founded what is now ExxonMobil). The two women ensured Methodist Hospital would have seven acres of land in the heart of the Texas Medical Center on which to build a 300-bed, state-of- the-art hospital. "Josie Roberts and Ella Fondren had a vision for what they wanted the hospital to be," Boutwell said. "They didn't just care about size. They wanted it to be the best hospital around. They hit the road and toured the best hospitals in the country and they worked those elements into the design." Boom recited an anecdote that Roberts liked to repeat. "She told this story of how a man told her, 'Little lady, I don't think you know how much seven acres is,' and she said, 'I just told Mr. so-and-so that I most certainly understand what seven acres is,'" Boom said. "She is largely responsible for get- ting us the footprint we have today and it has served us very well. Now we have a 22-story building and 950 beds, so she was tremendously impactful." Roberts resigned from Methodist Hospital on Feb. 1, 1953— 29 years to the day she started as superintendent, but her legacy lives on. "I think she knew what was right and what needed to be done and she recognized, like all of us, that health care is a calling," Boom said. "We are here to help people in happy times, but we are usually here to help people in difficult times—to heal and relieve suffering." Today, 70 percent of Houston Methodist Hospital system employ- ees are female, Boom said, and more than half the employees in manage- ment are female. Roberts led the way, and now a new Methodist build- ing memorializes her contribution. "The Josie Roberts Admin- istration Building … is a great way to recognize her," Boom said. "Every single new employee will go to that site for orientation, where they will learn about our faith-based system, our values and history." The Josie Roberts Administration Building opened in February 2020. Easter at Palmer

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