Culture / Newsy

The Woodlands’ Reimagined Breast Care Center Attempts to Make Health Care Warmer and More Artistic

Longtime Community Difference Maker Melissa Preston Would Have Loved This Very Different Medical Land

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For generations, mammograms have often felt clinical and cold — necessary but impersonal. Now, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands is attempting to transform that experience with a setting designed to be more like a sanctuary than your typical medical land.

The hospital recently unveiled the newly reimagined and renamed Melissa Preston Breast Care Center, a renovated and expanded space named for a beloved leader and longtime champion of women’s well-being through In the Pink of Health.

Through her leadership at In the Pink of Health, Preston inspired countless women. “She cared deeply about helping others and about making a difference in women’s lives,” Linda Nelson, vice president of operations at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, says. “That’s what made her so special.

Designed by Charbonneau Interiors, using art from Ardest Gallery, the new center replaces sterile walls with warmth and artistry. New furniture, local artwork and intentional design choices define the space, along with the trusted, compassionate care Memorial Hermann is known for providing.

A Warmer Medical Land

When Nelson asked designer Nancy Charbonneau to reimagine the breast center, she had one request: Make it feel like a hug.

“Melissa was smart, refined, courageous and fiercely loyal,” Nelson tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “When she believed in something, she gave it her whole heart. She brought grace and professionalism to everything she did. She also brought joy, laughter and a little sparkle wherever she went.”

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Melissa Preston Breast Center
Three of Chris Turner’s colorful pieces create a bright mood in the hallways of the Melissa Preston Breast Center at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands. (Photo by Laura Landsbaum)

Honoring  Women Through Design

For Charbonneau, the project was personal.

“Melissa was involved with In the Pink when I was, and she had been for a long time,” Charbonneau says. “She was a wonderful advocate for the organization. When she passed away a couple years ago, she left money for the breast center.”

Charbonneau’s team joined the renovation early on. “We provided input on the plans,” she says. “Memorial Hermann was wonderful about letting us collaborate with the architects.

“I knew Melissa and wanted this to be a representation and an honor to her and her family. I wanted her donation to have an impact on the aesthetic side of the center, not just the functional side.”

That intention guided every design choice. “She was such a community person,” Charbonneau says. “I wanted to source artwork from within our community, which is why I reached out to Julie Verville of Ardest Gallery. We wanted to showcase Texas-based artists as a way to honor Melissa.”

The result is a space that feels deeply personal — a reflection of Preston’s warmth and the community she loved.

Melissa Preston Breast Center
Patti Gary with her art, a stylized photo of a flower, in the new Melissa Preston Breast Center at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands. (Photo by Laura Landsbaum)

Local Art for Healing and Hope

Verville submitted more than 200 art works for consideration. From those, Charbonneau and her team selected works in photography, ceramics, glass and painting. The chosen artists include Abigail Gomez, Julie Pelaez, Rebecca Bennett, Patti Gary, Isabelle Lopez Kotara, Sheng Kuan Chung, Jamar Carrington, Annette Palmer, Doni Langlois and Chris Turner.

“Several of them wove messages of love and healing into their artwork,” Charbonneau says. “Some pieces include subtle details for visitors to discover, and each was named to reflect hope and renewal.”

Melissa Preston Breast Center Chabonneau Verville Langlois
Nancy Charbonneau, artist Doni Langlois, Ardest Gallery owner Julie Verville and Kimberly Graff at the opening of the Melissa Preston Breast Center at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands. (Photo courtesy of Charbonneau Interiors)

During the dedication ceremony, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center CEO Justin Kendrick reflected on what the center represents.

“It’s a place where people receive world-class care during some of their most vulnerable moments,” Kendrick says. “The Melissa Preston Breast Center is more than diagnosing and treating breast cancer. It’s about touching lives, offering hope and walking alongside individuals on their journey.”

Kendrick believes the center captures what makes Memorial Hermann The Woodlands have such an impact. “It represents the intersection of advanced medical care and heartfelt compassion,” she says. “The same qualities that made Melissa so extraordinary.”

Sometimes a building is not just a building.

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