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BCMS NEWS
Dr. Fernando Guerra
TO RECEIVE 2017 SERVANT
LEADERSHIP AWARD ON JUNE 8
IN RECOGNITION OF LIFELONG
COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY
HEALTH AND SERVICE
Fernando A. Guerra, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., who served for 23
years as director of health for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health
District, has been named the 2017 recipient of the St. Vincent de
Paul Servant Leadership Award by Daughters of Charity Services of
San Antonio. He will be honored during DCSSA’s 12th annual
awards luncheon from noon to 1:15 p.m. June 8 at the Whitley The-
ological Center on the campus of Oblate School of Theology, 285
Oblate Drive.
A practicing pediatrician for more than 45 years, Dr. Guerra, 77,
also had academic appointments as a clinical professor of pediatrics
at the University of Texas Health Science Center and was an adjunct
professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health at the
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and at the U.S. Air Force
School of Aviation at the former Brooks Air Force Base. Dr. Guerra
earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical
Branch at Galveston and his Master of Public Health degree from
the Harvard University School of Public Health, where he was a Kel-
logg Fellow.
He also served on federal advisory committees for the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, including the National Vaccine Advisory
Committee, the Committee for Infant Mortality, the National Chil-
dren’s Study and the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practice.
In addition, he is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and programs in south San Antonio and Bexar County, particularly for
the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, and is a
member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Med-
ical Association and the Texas Medical Association.
“A servant-leader is someone who, like St. Vincent de Paul, first
wants to serve, and is focused on the well-being of the community
to which he or she belongs,” said Michael Bennett, president and
24 San Antonio Medicine • May 2017
chief executive officer of DCSSA. “Through that conscious choice
of service arises the commitment to lead. We believe Dr. Guerra has
modeled the servant-leader role through his lifelong commitments
to the underserved in San Antonio and Bexar County and on a na-
tional and international basis.”
Dr. Guerra is the founding medical director of the Community
Health Center, previously called the Barrio Comprehensive Clinic
and now known as CommuniCare, a federally qualified community
health center. He serves on the board of trustees for the Saint Susie
Charitable Foundation, the Urban Institute and the Texas Philo-
sophical Society, and the development board for the University of
Texas Medical Branch.
He is recognized as the principal investigator in 30 trials for child-
hood vaccinations, and serves as a national and international
spokesperson and consultant in the field of childhood immuniza-
tions, pediatrics and public health.
Dr. Guerra, who retired from practice in 2014, is married to Bev-
erly Purcell-Guerra, a public relations professional.
Founded in 1958, Daughters of Charity Services of San Antonio
is dedicated to establishing and maintaining neighborhood-based
poor and vulnerable populations. Serving more than 14,000 indi-
viduals annually through early childhood education, after-school
care, primary medical and dental care, counseling and social services,
DCSSA has impacted hundreds of thousands of lives while charita-
bly contributing more than $20 million to this critically needed
ministry.
Tickets to Daughters of Charity Services of San Antonio’s an-
nual awards luncheon may be obtained by calling (210) 334-2300.