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Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 119
BY SENATOR BROOME
A RESOLUTION
To commend Willie F. Hawkins for his forty-two years of dedicated public service and wish
him well in his retirement.
WHEREAS, Willie F. Hawkins has provided forty-two years of distinguished service
to the citizens of Louisiana and Baton Rouge in the areas of higher education, health care,
and social services; and
WHEREAS, since 1984, he has served in several high level state health care
administrative positions including sixteen years with the LSU System; and
WHEREAS, in 1978, Willie Hawkins began his public service as the Executive
Director of the Eden Park Community Health Center and also served as the Administrator
of East Baton Rouge Parish Health Care Services; and
WHEREAS, early in his professional career, he served in several not-for-profit
positions in the Baton Rouge community including Director of Health and Social Services
for Community Advancements, Inc., and Director of the Young Adult Offender Program for
the Community Corrections and Rehabilitation Center; and
WHEREAS, Willie Hawkins was the recipient of the two and one-half year
prestigious Ford Foundation Fellowship Award in 1974; and
WHEREAS, he was named Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor at LSU
Health Sciences Center New Orleans-Health Care Services Division and CEO of the Medical
Center of Louisiana in New Orleans in July 1999, having previously served as the Executive
Assistant to the Vice Chancellor at LSU Health Sciences Center from July 1997 to July
1999; and
WHEREAS, prior to his service with LSU, Willie Hawkins served as the
Confidential Assistant to the CEO of the Louisiana Health Care Authority from November
1993 to August 1995, and January 1996 to July 1997; and SR NO. 119 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, under the Louisiana Health Care Authority, he served as the Acting
Administrator of Earl K. Long Medical Center from August 1995 to January 1996, and as
Assistant Administrator from April 1984 to November 1993; and
WHEREAS, Willie Hawkins graduated from Southern University in 1965 with a
bachelor of science degree in Business Administration and served as a Vista Volunteer at the
Columbia University School of Social Work in 1966 and 1967; and
WHEREAS, he is a veteran of the United States Army having served with the
Military Assistance Command in Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, Willie F. Hawkins retires on July 5, 2013, from LSU as the Director of
Institutional Relations, a position he has held since February 2004; and
WHEREAS, he can be found on any given day, at any given hour, navigating patients
through the often complicated Louisiana health care system; and
WHEREAS, Willie Hawkins has not only provided professional administrative
leadership in public health care for many years, he also personally ensured that thousands
of patients were able to get medical appointments and emergency treatment regardless of
their ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, there is not a single local official of city or state government, a local
minister, a city-parish department head, or a local community leader that Willie Hawkins
does not know on a first-hand basis; and
WHEREAS, he provided invaluable legislative assistance on behalf of LSU by
keeping "watch" from a key seat on the House floor; and
WHEREAS, Willie Hawkins was extremely instrumental in securing from the Brown
family the donation of property that make up strategic parts of the new medical clinic and
urgent care center campus in North Baton Rouge; and
WHEREAS, in 2011, while providing information to a legislator on a piece of
legislation vital to LSU and attempting simultaneously to navigate a steep staircase in the
Capitol, he fell and broke his hip sidelining him but not his telephone dialing finger for the
remainder of the session; and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana is grateful for the dedicated and professional
public service of Willie F. Hawkins and further recognizes his selfless contribution to the SR NO. 119 ENROLLED
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health care of Louisiana residents.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend Willie F. Hawkins for his forty-two years of dedicated public service
and wish him well in his retirement.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Willie F. Hawkins.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE