Audelio Rivera, M.D., a neonatologist and director of the neonatal intensive care unit at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, has been named a recipient of the 2010 Frist Humanitarian Awards. The annual awards honor an HCA physician, volunteer, and employee for their outstanding humanitarian and volunteer activities.
Joining Rivera were volunteer Pauline Shaver of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, Fla., and HCA employee Arnold Lemay of Frankfort Regional Medical Center in Frankfort, Ky. The three were honored at an awards ceremony held in Nashville on May 16, 2011.
Rivera, 54, has dedicated his professional life to caring for the sickest newborns. Beyond his work as a neonatologist, he co-founded Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin in 1998 to serve Central Texas by improving the health of tiny preterm and sick babies by providing human milk. Mothers’ Milk Bank of Austin has sent milk to 94 hospitals in 21 states and dispensed nearly 650,000 bottles of milk. Dr. Rivera also works closely with Hand to Hold, a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive support to parents of premature babies. In addition, he established Austin First Steps High-Risk Follow-Up Clinic to provide continuing care to former NICU babies.