- The Foundation is sponsoring closed captioning at the Global Health Symposium presented by Texas Biomedical Research Institute
- The Foundation is also sponsoring a National Day of Prayer Breakfast hosted by the YMCA of Greater San Antonio and Trinity Baptist Church
April 28, 2021 (SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS) — Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio (BHFSA) believes that there are many ways to overcome the effects of a global pandemic. With that in mind, BHFSA has announced sponsorship of two very different events in the coming weeks.
The first is Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s Virtual Global Health Symposium, a two-day virtual event taking place on April 29-30, running from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Featuring over 50 speakers from all over the world and across the healthcare sector, the symposium will offer a global perspective on the effects, prevention, and future of pandemics. Speakers include former U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros, Co-Founder of the Global Health Corps, Barbara Pierce Bush and Dr. Isis Kanevsky, Director for Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit https://www.txbiomed.org/.
The second event has been sponsored yearly by Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio since 2015. The YMCA of Greater San Antonio and Trinity Baptist Church will be holding their annual National Day of Prayer Breakfast at Tripoint on May 6, at 7:15 a.m. Speakers will be Archbishop Gustavo, Archbishop of San Antonio, Rabbi Steve Gutow of New York University, and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. The public may attend for free, virtually or in person. To learn more, visit https://dayofprayersa.com/.
“We see opportunities for our community to heal and grow across many different sectors,” said Cody Knowlton, President and CEO of Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio. “Coming together to discuss and learn from the scientific community is crucial to our future, and so is coming together to be led in unified prayer by the faith community.”
This sentiment is echoed by two of Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio’s trustees. Bobby Contreras, pastor at Alamo Heights Baptist Church and chaplain for the fire and police departments of Alamo Heights, has served on BHFSA’s board for several years.
“I feel that a key ingredient for a thriving and transforming city is community prayer. It’s great that BHFSA sponsors this event and affords the opportunity to gather and pray,” Contreras said.
Dr. Tom Patterson, chief of infectious diseases in the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, is also a long-serving trustee of BHFSA. When the possibility of sponsoring the Global Health Symposium was brought forward, Patterson was positive.
“The speakers assembled for this symposium are thought leaders in global health, research and policy. I think having them in conversation will prove to be a valuable educational experience for San Antonio and well beyond.”
Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio (BHFSA) was formed in 2004 to fund not-for-profit healthcare services and education throughout Bexar County and seven surrounding counties. Since inception, BHFSA has awarded 1,276 grants totaling nearly $90 million to further BHFSA’s mission of honoring God by improving the health of our community. For more information, visit bhfsa.org.
