When Adriane Maxie started her job at the TDCJ Memorial Unit, she expected to stay busy solving problems and helping people; those were challenges she looked for in a career.
But her coworkers added an unexpected bonus.
“This is the best group of people I’ve worked with in my entire life,” Maxie said. “Everyone there is helpful. We help each other because we are all goal-oriented, and our main focus is just to make sure we get the job done, making sure we see our patients every day, giving them the care they need.”
Since her life is centered around relationships, Maxie values the richness her colleagues have added to her workdays, from first thing in the morning as she coordinates deliveries with couriers to striving all day to be sure each inmate in need of hospital care has transport approval.
Not everything goes smoothly, but Maxie takes pride in working through the rough spots, too, asking “How can I make this happen?”
After her work as a correctional clinical associate is done, Maxie regularly drives to the D3 Elite Dance Academy on the north side of Houston, where she’s taught for the past six years, specializing in majorette dance but also expanding into other areas ranging from lyrical dance to tumbling.
“I just couldn’t bring myself to stop teaching,” Maxie said. “We start at age 4 and go all the way up until the students are seniors in high school. A lot of these kids started when they were babies, so I’m invested.”
Maxie is new to health care except for her time with the equipment staff of the Prairie View Marching Storm, when she helped with first aid and medication management. In that role, she was immersed in her favorite pursuits: problem solving, performance and connecting with people.
When she’s not teaching or working, Maxie spends her free time with her favorite people: her two sisters, brother and mother, especially on Sundays. Even then, she’s working on logistics.
“I’m a movie person, so I try to have movie nights,” she said.
On Mondays, it’s back to work with her new colleagues, who already count on her, according to Austee Matthews, Senior Practice Manager for Correctional Managed Care.
“The medical staff keeps asking her if she ever worked for CMC before because she is highly efficient, a fast learner and is kind to everyone,” Matthews said.
Photo: Adriane Maxie. (Photo by Leslie Sanderson.)