Dr. Pedro “Joe” Greer to Receive National Jefferson Award

Pedro “Joe” Greer, Jr., M.D., Associate Dean for Community Engagement, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM), will soon join a “Who’s Who” of American history makers to have been honored with the Jefferson Award.

Founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Taft, Jr., and Sam Beard, president and CEO of the American Institute for Public Service, the Jefferson Award is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize” for public service.

Dr. Greer will receive the 2014 National Jefferson Award in the category: Greatest Public Service Benefitting the Disadvantaged.

Dr. Greer is the Founding Chair of the Department of Humanities, Health, and Society at the HWCOM where he spearheaded a unique concept in medical education, the Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP™ (Health Education Learning Program). As the cornerstone of the medical curriculum of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the program sends student teams to visit patients in their homes in underserved communities of Miami-Dade County, preparing them to address the social determinants that affect health access and outcomes. Through these household visits, the program provides individuals and communities with a range of services including education, support, and primary health care provided through a Mobile Health Care Center, staffed by physicians and nurses from the medical school, which makes weekly neighborhood visits.

A relentless advocate for those who lack access to health care, Dr. Greer established Camillus Health Concern and Saint John Bosco Clinic in Miami for the homeless, undocumented, uninsured, and low income.

In 2009, Dr. Greer’s work for the homeless was cited when President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.