SAN ANTONIO (Nov. 3, 2011) — Family physician Roland A. Goertz, M.D., M.B.A., of Waco received the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Medicine Alumni Association at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.
Dr. Goertz was honored Oct. 22 at the 2011 Reunion Weekend Gala. The award is given each year to an alumnus or alumna and is based on three criteria:
- The nominee’s service to the medical profession
- The nominee’s service to his or her community
- The nominee’s continuing service to — or involvement in — the School of Medicine
After earning his medical degree from the School of Medicine in 1981, Dr. Goertz completed a residency in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He subsequently completed a clinical teaching fellowship in family medicine in 1986 and received his M.B.A. from Baylor University in 2003. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.
For the past 15 years, Dr. Goertz has served as chief executive officer of the three foundations that oversee all operations of the Waco Family Health Center, which operates one of the oldest family medicine residency programs west of the Mississippi River. In 2010 the Waco Family Health Center provided care to 50,000 patients in McLennan County. He also holds an appointment at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
Dr. Goertz currently serves as board chair of the AAFP, having previously served one-year terms as president and president-elect. In 2006 he was awarded the AFFP’s Robert Graham Family Physician Executive Award. He has also received numerous awards from the Texas Academy of Family Physicians, including the Presidential Award of Merit in 1989, the Political Action Committee Award in 2003 and the Philanthropist of the Year Award in 2004.
Dr. Goertz was nominated by Martha Medrano, M.D., M.P.H., fellow graduate from the Class of 1981 and director of behavioral health at CommuniCare Health Centers in San Antonio. Dr. Medrano received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004. In her nominating letter, she wrote of Dr. Goertz:
“There are many things that I admire about Roland, but one thing that stands out is his warm and kind approach to people in general. He has every right and cause to be ‘big headed’ about his accomplishments, but he is not. This is probably due to his humble beginnings. He was born in the small town of Smithville, Texas. After graduating from medical school and completing a family medicine residency at John Peter Smith Hospital, he became a family physician in a rural private practice — a dream he had shared with classmates during medical school.”
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled $228 million in fiscal year 2010. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $744 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.