Leadership Team2022-03-24T11:46:11-05:00

Our Team

Ashley Sacriste
Ashley SacristeMBA, CEO
Dr. Arif Shoaib
Dr. Arif ShoaibMedical Director
Dr. Shoaib was born in Karachi, Pakistan. He graduated from Sind medical College Karachi. He conducted research at UT Houston, on Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder and Depression. He has authored several papers on depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. He completed his internship in psychiatry at Duke University in Durham, NC, General Adult Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine-Houston, and Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UT Houston. After completing training at UT Houston, he worked as medical director of the children’s unit for two years.

Dr. Shoaib has participated in medical missions to Kosavo and Kashmir, helping people traumatized by war and earthquake, respectively. He also volunteered at Houston Shifa Clinic, a faith based organization that helps indigent people, with healthcare needs.

Currently, he is the Medical Director at West Oaks Hospital. Dr. Shoaib treats patients with depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, ADHD, and substance abuse disorders.

Paul Veillon
Paul Veillon CFO
Paul joined West Oaks in 2015 as Chief Financial Officer. During his time here, Paul has headed numerous financial initiatives and assisted with several capital improvements such as the cafeteria renovation and the remodel of unit 9 to improve patient’s stay while at West Oaks. Paul brings 35 years of experience in healthcare finance to West Oaks.

Paul manages the West Oaks Business Office and is continually looking to improve operational efficiencies. Paul enjoys knowing that all financial decisions that better West Oaks positively impact our patients. His newest passion project is managing the financials for Behavioral Health Connections in the Houston and Dallas markets, allowing him to make an even larger impact than he already is in mental healthcare.
Paul is an Alexandria, Louisiana native and received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Louisiana College in 1983.

Cassie Richter
Cassie RichterInterim Director of Outpatient Services
Cassie originally joined West Oaks Hospital in 2004 assisting with the opening of outpatient satellite clinics and held the position of Director. In 2016, Cassie became the Director of Business Development for West Oaks Hospital. Cassie is a passionate member of the West Oaks Team, believing in the treatment and experience West Oaks has provided for over 30 years and continues to provide. Since joining West Oaks as the Director of Business Development, she and her team have carried the message to the community and to providers that “It is a New Day at West Oaks”.

Creating opportunities to learn about West Oaks are what drives her on a daily basis. “People deserve the best mental health care the first time around and we have it.” Cassie is an avid volunteer in the communities West Oaks and our outpatient clinics serve. Cassie is a former recipient of the distinguished honor of “Volunteer of the Year” for Katy area Chamber of Commerce and has received the ‘Beacon of Light Award’ for the Fort Bend County Mental Health Association. Other volunteer activities are American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and NAMI.

Cassie has been in Business Development for 18 years and has a background in Internal Medicine Nursing and Adult Education.

Colleen Paxton, MS, LPC-S, LMFT-S, NCC
Colleen Paxton, MS, LPC-S, LMFT-S, NCCDirector of Clinical Services for Inpatient
Colleen first worked at West Oaks from 2005-2006, as a therapist. After 6 years working in another mental health facility, she returned to work in October, 2012, as a therapist and then became the patient advocate. In August, 2014, she became the Director of Clinical Services for Inpatient. Colleen is very passionate about her work and the populations she serves. She takes a very “hands on” approach with the patients by meeting with them, conducting family therapy, and offering compassion and understanding. She strives to educate her patients and their families as well as the public about mental illness and ways to better understand and support them. Colleen has given presentations for school districts, colleges, and recently presented at the state NAMI convention on the topic, “The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Trauma.”
Colleen’s favorite age group to work with are the adolescents. Every Saturday, there are multi-family groups conducted on the children’s and adolescent units for parents and caregivers so that they may participate in groups that educate them on mental health issues and ways to be supportive.

Colleen has two licenses—a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor, and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Supervisor. She is a strong believer in approaching problems from the systemic perspective by involving families and support systems, and using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy approaches. Colleen believes in the importance of physical exercise as a way to help with depression and mood issues as well as an overall sense of well being.

Colleen was instrumental in starting school on campus, provided by Houston Independent School District for ages 5-17 years of age, which began in February, 2018. Colleen overseas the programming on each unit which includes group therapy, recreational therapy, music appreciation, art appreciation, Zumba, yoga, and pet therapy. Colleen is in the process of starting a “Trauma Track” for those patients who have suffered from trauma.

Colleen is a native Houstonian, and received her Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy at Our Lady of the Lake University. Colleen is also a graduate of the LCDC Addiction Studies program from the University of Houston. Additionally, she holds a music degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Danielle Green, RN
Danielle Green, RNInterim Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Intake
Danielle Green is the Director of Intake & Admissions at West Oaks Hospital. Danielle joined the West Oaks Hospital team in 2012 where has been instrumental in utilizing creative innovation as well as her strong leadership skills to streamline her department’s operations to parallel that of the hospital’s mission, values, and vision.

A native of Houston, Danielle has worked across multiple medical disciplines as well as served in many capacities. She has worked with acute geriatrics to wound care to psychiatric inpatient care; Danielle is certainly very versatile and multifaceted. With over seven years as a Registered Nurse and over 20 years as a medical professional, Danielle has proven her natural niche for patient care as well as her affinity for leadership.

Charlotte James, RN, BSN, CPHRM, FASHRM
Charlotte James, RN, BSN, CPHRM, FASHRMDirector of Risk Management & Quality
Charlotte attended nursing school at University of Louisiana – Lafayette and began her nursing career as a surgical nurse in Houston, Texas. During her Operating Room tenure, she was involved in leadership roles as well as education both for hospital employees as well as Houston Baptist University nursing students. Following her clinical beginnings, Charlotte moved into the legal arena as a legal nurse consultant / paralegal, working alongside attorneys representing insurance companies, healthcare professionals, etc.

Combining her clinical and legal backgrounds, Charlotte joined a large healthcare organization as Director of Enterprise Risk Management, where she spent many years, driving the Risk Management team, organizational risk initiatives, risk education, and legal/ risk integration efforts.

Charlotte is a native Houstonian, and mother of two great young adults.

Kevin Simmons, RPh
Kevin Simmons, RPh Director of Pharmacy
Kevin joined West Oaks Hospital in 2003 as the Director of Pharmacy. Kevin has a deep and profound passion to provide excellent patient care. He has adopted the mindset to treat all patients as if they were his family members and goes out of his way to make sure all patients get the level of care they truly deserve. He is a valued member of the clinical team who works closely with the physician staff on medication management. He enjoys educating patients and caregivers of psychiatric disease states and the psychotropic medications used to treat these diseases states. Kevin has worked on many clinical initiatives during his time at West Oaks that have led him to serve on the pharmacy advisory board for a healthcare computer system. Currently, he is helping to develop clinical enhancements for another healthcare computer system to improve compliance with TJC Medication Management requirements.

During his 15-year tenure as Director of Pharmacy at West Oaks Hospital, Kevin has been recognized by Comprehensive Pharmacy Services with multiple awards for service and dedication. In 2008, he was recognized as the Director of the Year for the Behavioral Division. Also, in 2016, he was awarded the Boscoe Godfrey Heart and Soul Award for going above and beyond to provide patient care in a disaster situation.

Kevin is a native Houstonian and is a member of APhA and ASHP pharmacy professional organizations. He received his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Texas Southern University in 2000.

Kim Douglas
Kim DouglasDirector of Utilization Review
Kim came to West Oaks in 2012 and is the Director of Utilization Review. Her background in psychiatric care and case management is extensive with more than twenty years’ experience. Kim is passionate about safe discharge planning, patient care, and making sure patients receive the time they need to recover by getting patient days authorized with insurance providers.

Kim’s approach as a leader is to be a role model. She never asks something of her staff member that she would not be able and willing to do as well. Kim has high expectations of herself and even higher expectations for herself. Yet, team expectations are constantly met as the Utilization Review Department is a fantastic and highly-skilled department. She believes that team bonding activities are important and her team has lunch together at least once a week.

Kim is a Huntsville, Texas native and she graduated from Sam Houston University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology.

Krishna Payne, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Krishna Payne, SPHR, SHRM-SCPDirector of Human Resources
Krishna joined West Oaks Hospital in 2015 as the Director of Human Resources. She is a respected human resources leader and change agent with over 3 decades of experience in healthcare. Since joining West Oaks, she has created an employee engagement program; implemented a competitive compensation structure; and developed a robust employee activities and recognition program.

These programs and the many other HR initiatives are designed to hire, develop, recognize, reward, retain and empower the best staff. Under Krishna’s leadership of HR, the hospital enjoys one of the highest employee retention and employee engagement rates among the UHS Texas region. She has a passion to help the people who help the patients.

Krishna is a proud native Houstonian and graduate of the University of Houston –Main Campus. She is a certified senior human resources professional and mediator.