Ernest L. Propes, M.D.
1925 – 2002

Ernest L. Propes, M.D. died August 30, 2002 in Palm Springs. He was a member of SBCMS for 20 years.

A native of Irvington, Illinois, Dr. Propes served in the Army Air Force from 1943 to 1945. He received his medical degree from the University of Illinois School of Medicine in 1953 and interned at the Long Beach Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, California. He established a private practice in Newport Beach and the next year joined the Kaiser Foundation General Practice Clinic in East Los Angeles. In 1957 he was heading a seven-physician clinic with Kaiser Foundation in Compton. In 1962 he left general practice to take a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Wadsworth V.A. Hospital in Los Angeles. He returned to Kaiser Foundation Hospital in 1964 as a Physiatrist and a year later became head of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Bellflower. Dr. Propes retired from Kaiser Foundation Hospital in 1975 and took sabbatical to study Biofeedback, Acupuncture, and Autogenic training at UCLA. He opened a private practice in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in San Diego in 1997. He was the Acting Medical Director of the Sharp Rehabilitation Unit and a lecturer for the Chronic Pain Program in Autogenic training. He came to St. Bernardino Community Hospital 1982 to head the rehabilitation unit until he retired in 1987.

Dr. Propes was board certified with the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He was a member of the CMA, AMA, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Change of Status
The SBCMS Board of Directors approved the requests from the following physicians for a reinstatement of membership:

Kelly Ahmed, M.D.
Douglas J. Beseth, M.D.
Naresh Ganesh, M.D.
I. Scott Goldman, M.D.
Tsu Lai, M.D.
William Rivera-Ortiz, M.D.
David Vargas, M.D.
Montri D. Wongworawat, M.D.

The Board of Directors accepted the request from the following physician for retired status of membership:

Eugene Stecz, M.D.