Dr. Marianito Asperilla This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Sun Herald - 02/19/06

   www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/19/2006   Last Visited: 2/19/2006

   CHICAGO- Marianito (Mark) Asperilla, M.D., of Port Charlotte, Fla., is a recipient of the 2006 Pride in the Profession Award. Presented by the American Medical Association Foundation, the award is made to four domestic physicians who aid in underserved populations in the U.S. The AMA Foundation presents the award in association with the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative.
   
   The award will be presented to Dr. Asperilla on Sun, March 12, at the 2006 Excellence in Medicine Awards Ceremony preceding the National Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC.
   
   Dr. Asperilla, who is one of only four physicians to receive the award in 2006, is being honored for his efforts in helping the indigent, disabled and disadvantaged.
   
   In 1994, Dr. Asperilla opened the Charlotte HIV Clinic in Port Charlotte, Fla. to provide free health service to uninsured HIV patients. Also that year, he co-founded Access Care, Inc., a nonprofit organization that sends teams of doctors to impoverished areas of Central and South America. Dr. Asperilla organized Charlotte County's Disaster Preparedness Assessment Team in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and he collected donations of medicine and medical supplies to help treat victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
   
   As a result of Hurrican Charley is 2004, Dr. Asperilla instituted an emergency prescription service through the St. Vincent DePaul Community Pharmacy and was a driving force in the volunteer coordination of a 10-county disaster recovery group in the area. He also implemented a mobile pharmacy and volunteer health clinic at a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) park in Punta Gorda, Fla. to serve the 1,500 homeless residents of Charlotte County.