May 1, 2015
The Texas Medical
Association Foundation (TMAF) honored two Austin health advocates with its
prestigious Health
Leader Award. Celia Neavel, MD, FSAHM, and
the St. David’s Foundation received their awards during the TMA Foundation’s
22nd annual fundraising gala Friday night at the Hilton Austin Hotel. The event
is part of TexMed, TMA’s annual conference.
“These
outstanding Austin health leaders show us how the health of Texans can
measurably improve when medicine, business, and community pool their expertise
and resources to stress prevention and improve health,” said Deborah A. Fuller,
MD, Dallas, TMA Foundation president.
Individual Health
Leader Award Winner: Dr. Neavel received the Individual Health Leader
Award for her lifelong work with patients who are vulnerable and disenfranchised,
including adolescents. Through People’s Community Clinic, she has implemented these programs that improve the health of
Central Texas adolescents and their families:
The Center
for Adolescent Health (CAH) provides affordable,
specialized medical, behavioral, and preventive health care for more than 1,600
low-income and underserved teens and young adults, aged 11 to 23 years. CAH helps
teens and their families navigate the transition to adulthood in a positive
way. Dr. Neavel supervises a full health care
team at People’s on-site clinic, plus three off-site
clinics that the center conducts in collaboration with nonmedical,
youth-serving agencies.
GOALS (Generating Outcomes and Liaisons for Students) is a
developmental/ behavioral/primary care program for youth aged 4 to 19 years.
GOALS evaluates and provides treatment for young patients with conditions such
as attention deficit hyperactive disorder, autism, and learning differences.
GOALS achieves this in a medical home setting.
Dr. Neavel graduated from Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston and completed her family medicine residency and
a combined fellowship in adolescent medicine and developmental disabilities in
Cincinnati, Ohio. She was a faculty member at the Austin Pediatric Residency
Program for nearly 19 years, contributing to curriculum development, providing supervision,
and giving lectures. Dr. Neavel continues to teach residents, psychology
predoctoral students, and other trainees.
Currently, Dr. Neavel serves on the
Texas Health Steps Advisory Panel and the Women’s Health Community Care
Collaborative.
“I am
pleased to receive the TMAF Health Leader Award,” said Dr. Neavel, who also was
a finalist in the Austin Business
Journal’s Profiles in Power, which recognizes women of influence in Central
Texas. “I appreciate the opportunity to focus on the importance of community
collaboration as a fundamental and wonderfully enriching part of medicine.”
Program Health Leader Award Winner: St.
David’s Foundation received the Program Health Leader Award
for its philanthropic activities to encourage good health in Central Texas. The
foundation reinvests proceeds from St. David’s HealthCare to programs across a
five-county area in Central Texas that includes Austin. More than 60 percent of
the population served by the foundation’s grant partners are Hispanic, with a
high rate of poverty. In addition, the area has one of the fastest-growing
older adult populations, straining organizations that provide specialized
services to low-income seniors.
St.
David’s Foundation’s signature programs include the largest charity mobile
dental program in the country and the largest scholarship program in Texas for aspiring
health professionals. The foundation provides grants to more than 60 partners, targeting
strategic focus areas. Funds support the work of safety net clinics, agencies
serving older adults, health care workforce development, and mental health and healthy
living programs. People’s Community Clinic is among St. David’s Foundation’s
grant recipients.
Earl Maxwell, CEO of St.
David’s Foundation, said, “Our
belief that good health returns great benefits to our community guides our
grant-making toward initiatives that affect the broader health of the region.
St. David’s Foundation is honored to be recognized alongside Dr. Neavel by the
Texas Medical Association Foundation as Program Health Leaders.”
TMA Foundation’s previous Health Leaders Award Winners
include: Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, for promoting active lifestyles; Project
Access Tarrant County, created by the Tarrant County Medical Society, to
provide health care to the uninsured; H-E-B and its president, Scott McClelland,
for commitment to improving Texans’ health; and Joel Dunnington, MD, Houston, for his commitment to tobacco education.
TMA is the largest
state medical society in the nation, representing more than 48,000 physician
and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component
county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to
improve the health of all Texans. TMA Foundation is the philanthropic arm of
the association and raises funds to support the health improvement and
science priority initiatives of TMA and the family of medicine.
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Contact: Steve Levine (512) 370-1380; Cell: (512) 750-0971; e-mail: steve.levine[at]texmed[dot]org
Brent Annear (512) 370-1381; Cell: (512) 656-7320;
e-mail: brent.annear[at]texmed[dot]org