San Bernardino County Medical Societypresented to
Thomas J. Prendergast, Jr., M.D.
This twenty seventh day of June, in the year two thousand one
Dr. Thomas J. Prendergast, Jr. left his position in 1990 as Deputy Health Officer/Epidemiologist for the Orange County Department of Public Health to become Chief of Preventive Medical Services for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health and in 1992, the Director of Public Health and County Health Officer. Orange County's loss was San Bernardino County's gain. This St. Louis, Missouri native has devoted his entire medical career to preventive medicine, public health and epidemiology. Dr. Prendergast has exercised impressive leadership and expertise in protecting the county against communicable diseases, including management of a large population of HIV positive patients. He has cultivated an improved quality of life and health awareness for the citizens of this county.
Dr. Prendergast lends his expertise to several committees and programs, including Arrowhead Regional Medical Center's (ARMC) Infection Control Committee, the Public Health Department's Medical Care for HIV Positive Individuals, Early Intervention Program and HIV Clinic; and ARMC's Institutional Review Board. He is an Associate Clinical Professor with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Loma Linda School of Public Health and the Department of Preventive Medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. His awards are legion, ranging from the Jacques J. Braunfelbrunner Research Prize for Research by a Medical Student, 1966 (Washington University, St. Louis) to commendations from the Orange and San Bernardino County Boards of Supervisors, American Cancer Society, and the American Red Cross.
His interest in public health is furthered by his extensive participation in and leadership of local organizations dedicated to improving the health of the community. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the American Red Cross, and has been active in the National Foundation March of Dimes, the American Heart Association, the Cancer Surveillance Program, and the RIMS (Riverside, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino) Cancer Registry, Medical Advisory Committee. He chaired the Regional Disaster Medical Health Committee, the Ryan White Title II Consortium and Ryan White Title I Council, co-chaired the San Bernardino County Drug and Alcohol Master Plan Advisory Committee and served as a member of the San Bernardino County HIV Advisory Committee. He is president of the Health Officers Association of California and chairs the California Conference of Local Health Officers' Disease and Prevention Committee.
Dr. Prendergast is a key figure in our Medical Society, serving on the Board of Directors, the Communications Committee/Editorial Board and the Health Education Committee (1991-1992). His frequent articles in the Bulletin and more recently in SBCMS' section of the Southern California Physician, have kept members up to date on the status of public health in San Bernardino County. Moreover, the African American Health Initiative was conceived in 1999 when Dr. Prendergast requested the assistance of the Medical Society and its 501 (c) (3) to address the health risks of African Americans in San Bernardino County.
For his years of dedicated service to medicine, the people of San Bernardino
County, and the physician community, we are pleased to present the 2001 SBCMS
Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community to Thomas J. Prendergast,
Jr., M.D.
