As a part of St. Mary’s University’s commitment to seeking opportunities for dialogue to work together in the best interest of our community, the Center for Catholic Studies presents a panel discussion bringing together public servants with years of experience navigating difficult discussions and tackling tough topics, working together with others to serve the Common Good. They are role models for finding common ground with people who differ in their opinions or perspectives. Learn from these experts about some of the challenges and opportunities that face all of us who want to engage in responsible citizenship and build a better world.
This program is supported through The Lin Great Speaker Series, which is made possible by an endowment established in memory of Shu-Chi Lin by his widow, Mrs. Chang Le-Chiao Lin, and their son, Vincent Lin, Ph.D., a St. Mary’s alumnus and former faculty member.
Public Health: Treatment, Prevention and Infrastructure in Bexar County
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
7 to 8:30 p.m.
University Center, Mengler Conference Room
Moderated by Nelson Wolff (B.B.A. ’66, J.D. ’66), University Distinguished Service Professor, St. Mary’s University and former Bexar County Judge.
Moderator
Nelson Wolff (B.B.A., ’66, J.D. ’66), University Distinguished Service Professor, St. Mary’s University, and Former Bexar County Judge
Nelson Wolff (B.B.A., ’66, J.D. ’66) is a retired judge and Democratic politician from San Antonio.
He represented Bexar County in the Texas House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and the Texas Senate from 1973 to 1975. He served on the San Antonio City Council from 1987 to 1991 and then as mayor of San Antonio from 1991 to 1995. He served as Bexar County judge from 2001 until 2022.
Panelists
Janet Armitage, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Sociology and Professor of Sociology, St. Mary’s University
Janet Armitage, Ph.D., MBA, is Chair and Professor of Sociology and Director of Public Health Programs at St. Mary’s University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on health disparities, wellness and healthcare systems, with an emphasis on compassion’s transformative role. She explores the development and application of active compassion in medical education and how organizational compassion can reduce workplace distress.
Dr. Armitage’s expertise is shaped by her training in compassion and interprofessionalism at institutions like Emory University and Texas Tech University. Current projects include medical education research with Dr. Sue Nash of St. Mary’s and Dr. Joshua Hanson of UTHealth Long School of Medicine and participation in NSF-funded research on Type 2 Diabetes and its impact on work and wellness in San Antonio, led by Dr. Belinda Roman. Dr. Armitage’s work aims to drive both individual and systemic transformation in compassionate healthcare practices for improved community health.
Christine Erevelles, M.D., FACEP, System and Medical Director, US Acute Care Solutions
Christine Erevelles is an emergency physician employed by US Acute Care Solutions and currently serves as the System Medical Director for the nine Baptist Neighborhood Hospital facilities. She is the president of the medical staff for the Baptist Neighborhood Hospitals and has been in that role since 2019.
Erevelles has been practicing as an emergency physician for 31 years. She has held clinical teaching faculty positions and serves on several local and national committees. She works with hospital leadership on the STRAC (South Texas Regional Advisory Council) to help monitor and delineate certain aspects of EMS transport to micro-hospitals and freestanding facilities.
Recently, she helped to draft guidelines for transport to such facilities nationwide for US Acute Care Solutions. She is passionate about patient care and believes it is the highest honor and privilege to advocate for and care for patients in the emergency department. She earned her B.S. in Biology from Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania (1986), her M.D. from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia (1990) followed by completion of an emergency medicine residency at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
George B. Hernández Jr., J.D., (B.A. ’74), Former President, and CEO, University Health System, and St. Mary’s University Trustee
George B. Hernández Jr. is the retired President/Chief Executive Officer of the Bexar County Hospital District DBA University Health.
He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Reynaldo G. Garza Lifetime Achievement Award by the State Bar of Texas, Hispanic Issues Section, for his commitment to addressing concerns affecting the Hispanic community and for advancing diversity and access to justice in the practice of law.
In 2020, Hernández was honored with the prestigious Earl M. Collier Award by the Texas Hospital Association. In 2021, he received the Living the Chaminade Legacy Award from St. Mary’s. In 2023, Texas A&M University-San Antonio honored him with its Dream Maker recognition. Hernández is a native Texan. He earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s University and law degree from George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C.
Vasan Ramachandran, M.D., FACC, FAHA, Founding Dean of the UT School of Public Health San Antonio
Vasan Ramachandran, M.D., FACC, FAHA, is the Founding Dean of UT School of Public Health in San Antonio and Professor of Medicine and Population Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
Ramachandran previously served as the Chief in the Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology in the Department of Medicine and as Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Ramachandran also served as the Principal Investigator of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS, the oldest running epidemiology study in the U.S.) between 2014 to 2022 and is the Principal Investigator of the Risk Underlying the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Study (one of the youngest cohort studies in the U.S.).