Medical School alumnus Dr. Alan W. Keister, M.D., FACP, has been awarded the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service from the American College of Physicians (ACP), a national organization of internists. The award, to be presented April 11, 2019, honors a member of the organization who has initiated or been involved in volunteer programs.

Since 2000, Dr. Keister has practiced general internal medicine in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas. He has served in numerous leadership positions (including Chief of Medicine and President of the Medical Staff) at Baptist St. Anthony’s Hospital and has been a clinical faculty member at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine.

In Amarillo, Dr. Keister established the Heal the City Free Clinic to serve indigent patients who are not eligible for Medicaid or county assistance. Since opening its doors in 2014, Heal the City has flourished and now occupies a 21,000-square-foot facility. Urgent care, longitudinal chronic care, subspecialty referrals, lab and imaging support, pharmaceuticals, physical therapy, social worker services, and dietitian consultation are all provided at no cost to patients. More than 2,300 unique patients were seen in 2017, and the number continues to grow.

In 2017, Dr. Keister received the Volunteerism and Community Service Award from ACP’s Texas Chapter.