Danny Lozano
Plant Operations Director
With 40 acres of campus and a wide variety of medical, clinical, office and housing structures to maintain, Plant Operations Director Danny Lozano and his four-person staff are always busy. From the entrance sign on Highway 1340 up to Serenity Hill and down to the riverside, the crew stays active, keeping the grounds attractive and “fixing what needs fixing.” “We work hard to make La Hacienda a better place,” says Danny, who has been a part of the staff since 2001.
Witnessed Many Changes to Campus
Danny, who became a foreman then was promoted to Plant Operations Director in 2006, has seen many changes on the Hunt campus. Added in the last two decades were the Special Care Unit for medical care, the Frank Sadlack Family Program Building, the Business Office, a new wastewater plant, a rainwater collection system, and an addition to the Gym. It has also been a period when the older facilities, some dating back to the 1940s, were remodeled and updated. “The owners put their resources into making this a better place,” says Danny. “It’s a great place to work. The best I’ve ever been.” And he has worked in a few.
From Texas to Michigan and Back
As a young boy, the Kerrville native traveled seasonally with his parents and siblings to Michigan to help harvest crops. During high school, Danny returned to Michigan to work in a box factory and again in the 1970s to work for Ford Motor Co. During his middle teenage years, he also helped his father, the caretaker of Camp Rio Vista in Ingram. In addition to helping with the maintenance tasks, he and his younger brother and two sisters cared for the camp’s 40-horse herd. “We would see that they had water and hay and take them to a pasture behind the camp. I loved riding horses, and it was a great opportunity to ride.”
Worked at the State Hospital
Before joining the La Hacienda staff, Danny worked seven years for the Texas State Hospital in Kerrville. He started in the hospital’s recreation program, then moved to work with released patients. “I was assigned patients whom I assisted with errands and scheduled visits with their doctors.” The time with a health care facility was helpful when he came to La Hacienda.
Just Trying to Keep Things Running
While the Plant Operations staff strive to maintain things in good order, sometimes nature has other plans. “I tell my team that sometimes you can’t do anything about a problem,” says Danny, citing as an example the regional power outages during the February 2021 winter storm. “We just have to try to keep things running, I tell them.” And they did. La Hacienda continued serving its patients throughout the storm, which shut down much of Texas.
There’s Always Something to Do
Married 36 years, Danny and his wife have two daughters, two sons, and seven grandchildren. His free time sounds a lot like his work. He stays busy fixing up his home. His dad showed him how to work with concrete, and he has built several small houses and other structures. “There’s always something to be done.”
