ABOVE: (Left to Right) Gerald W. Womack, Jackie Brock, Lois J. Moore, Alicia Reyes, and Lourie Moore
Lois J. Moore is a medical pioneer in Houston and Harris County.
Recently, Harris Health dedicated a building in her honor and relative to her contributions to the medical community—the Lois J. Moore Center for Nursing Excellence.
The facility is for educating nurses and student nurses. It’s equipped with a sophisticated patient simulation lab to provide hands-on learning and practical experience. The 10,000-square-foot building can accommodate up to 150 nurses. It features a control room with recording equipment and two simulation hospital rooms complete with beds and oxygen lines. Participants can also use virtual reality headsets to review and train using a variety of clinical scenarios.
Moore began her career at what is now Harris Health System in 1957. From her early work as a nurse at Jefferson Davis Hospital, formerly located on the site of the current Federal Reserve Bank on Allen Parkway, Moore rose up the ranks to eventually become president and CEO of Harris Health System in 1989. She became the first African American and first female head of a healthcare system in the Texas Medical Center. Under her leadership, Moore led the opening of what is today Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson hospitals. She left as CEO in 1999 but continued her presence in healthcare working as CEO of the Harris County Psychiatric Hospital. Since then, she’s retired, but participates in a variety of health and minority-advocacy organizations.
Moore recently visited the center on October 3rd, which was her first time visiting it since it opened in August.