HOUSTON (October 28, 2011) - David S. Buck, MD, MPH, President and Founder of Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston, has been announced as the recipient of St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities 2011 Community Health Leadership Award. Dr. Buck was recognized for his leadership and advocacy of Houston's homeless population at the Bishop's Leadership Council Dinner hosted by St. Luke's Episcopal Health System on October 27.
"It is my pleasure to announce the latest addition to the St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities' Health Leaders panel. Dr. Buck's leadership has been critical to the health and well-being of our community's most underserved," said Bishop Andrew Doyle, IX Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Texas and Chair of St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities.
Inspired by his work with Mother Teresa while in India nearly thirty years ago, Dr. Buck has dedicated himself to improving the health of the homeless and underserved population of Houston for the past 14 years. In 2000, he founded Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston (HHH), a consortium of more than 30 community-based agencies, healthcare clinicians, educational institutions and public organizations working together to increase the quality of healthcare for the homeless. His collaborative leadership has been instrumental in developing and implementing healthcare services, programs and the legislative advocacy necessary to advance health in this vulnerable population. Dr. Buck, in addition to his role at Healthcare for the Homeless, also serves as a physician at Baylor College of Medicine and is an inspiring mentor to future health professionals.
As part of Dr. Buck's recognition, a gift of $50,000 will be presented to Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston. In 2010, Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston served 10,170 homeless men, women and children delivering primary healthcare, outreach initiatives and supportive services.
Previous Community Health Leadership Award recipients include: Denver Harbor Clinic's Daniel Montez, recently retired Urban Harvest co-founder Bob Randall, PhD, Casa De Esperanza de los Ninos' Bill Jones, The Rose's Dorothy Weston Gibbons, Bering Dental Clinic's Mark Nichols, DDS and from Austin, the Center for Child Protection's Sandra Martin, LMSW.
As part of the healing ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the Bishop's Leadership Council provides the Charities with long-term support of its mission and extends the reach of the Charities' endowment through an annual giving program of individual pledges. The pledges are applied collectively to the applicant receiving the highest priority affirmed by voting Council members annually.
The St Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, a supporting organization of the St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, conducts research and distributes grants to provide community health services to the underserved and motivates others to join in these efforts. Now in its seventh year, the Community Health Leadership Award honors each year the efforts of one outstanding nonprofit community health leader who is motivated to use their knowledge and skills to reach out and advance community health in body, mind and spirit.
About St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities
A component of St. Luke's Episcopal Health System and the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities is a unique funding entity committed to taking healthcare beyond the walls of the hospital and out into the community. The Charities is the area's largest public charity focused solely on public health and research in the area's most underserved neighborhoods. A one-of-a-kind entity in Texas, the Charities provides responsible stewardship to strengthen and sustain funded programs focused on public health and research in the area's most underserved neighborhoods. Utilizing research practices built on community partnerships to produce more effective interventions and outcomes. To date, the Charities has touched 15 million lives with $84 million distributed through over 1,700 research-informed grants to nonprofit community health service programs throughout Southeast Texas.
About St. Luke's Episcopal Health System
St. Luke's Episcopal Health System (StLukesTexas.com) includes St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital; St. Luke's Sugar Land Hospital; St. Luke's Lakeside Hospital; St. Luke's Patients Medical Center; St. Luke's Hospital at The Vintage; and St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, a charity devoted to assessing and enhancing community health, especially among the underserved. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is home to the Texas Heart® Institute, which was founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD, and is consistently ranked among the top 10 cardiology and heart surgery centers in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Affiliated with several nursing schools and three medical schools, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital was the first hospital in Texas named a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, receiving the award three times.
