Ricardo Arguijo (Ric) Martinez

Ricardo (Ric) Arguijo Martinez died on September 2, 2016. He was born January 25, 1951 in San Antonio to Robert and Lupe Martinez. Ric is survived by his spouse, Michael Pacheco, married in San Francisco on May 20, 2015 after being together 35 years. He is also survived by his brother Roberto and sister-in-law, Jimmie. He was a caring and compassionate individual with a great sense of humor, who possessed the ability to be positive despite life's challenges. He graduated from Harlandale High School in 1969 as the ROTC Commander and Sports Editor of the yearbook. He was also the President of the Medi-Stat male junior volunteer program with the Baptist Hospital System from 1965 to 1969. After high school graduation, he completed professional nursing education in 1973 at the University of Texas System School of Nursing, where he was Class President and awarded Outstanding Senior Student. With an interest in health care administration he earned a Master of Science in health care administration from Southwest Texas State University in 1975. In 1981 he was conferred a Master of Public Health in community health services organization from the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston. He was recognized by the American Nurses Association as a Contemporary Minority Leader in Nursing in 1983 and was inducted in the Sigma Theta Tau National Honor Society for Nursing in 1986. In the eighty's, his career focused on managing health care programs and hospital administration, eventually being an Assistant Administrator at the Brady/Green Community Health Center (Bexar County Hospital District). He started Medicolegal Consultants in 1990 and for ten years provided health care consultation services to numerous organizations including The Law Office of Mauzé and Jones, Regent Care Centers, and Southwest Texas State University.

In 1994 he completed doctoral studies at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, majoring in public health management and policy science. From 2002 to 2007, he was faculty with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Department of Medicine and the Research Compliance Officer with the General Clinical Research Center. While at UTHSCSA, he was a member of the Institutional Review Board, taught in the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation Program, was adjunct faculty with the U.T. School of Nursing Doctoral Program, served on the Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital's Research and Development Q.A. Committee, and was national President of the Society of Research Subject Advocates and a member of their Board of Directors from 2003-2006. After leaving UTHSCSA, he founded Equilance in 2007, which became a global website for positive thinking and personal wellness improvement. In 2009 he started Healthcare Best Practices Consultants and provided quality management, education and research consultative services to numerous San Antonio healthcare organizations including Morningside Ministries, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU), and The Center for Healthcare Services. As a consultant, he conducted the feasibility study for the OLLU Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration program, which he started and managed as an adjunct faculty and subsequently a full time faculty member in Healthcare Administration. His last administrative position at OLLU was Chair of the Business Programs Department. He resigned in 2016.

Community service included assisting with writing the original San Antonio AIDS Foundation grant which was funded by the Texas Department of Health in 1986; Board President of the Wellness Connection, 1993 - 1996; Member of the San Antonio and Austin Ryan White HIV Planning Councils, 1995 - 2000; Founding Board Member of the San Antonio Black Tie Dinner in 1990 and serving as the 1996 San Antonio Black Tie Dinner Chairperson; Advisory Board Member of the St. Philip's College Health Information Program, 2000 – 2009; and, Consultant to the Morningside Ministries Nursing Education Advisory Committee, 2009-2010.

As a writer, his publications included the books, Hispanic Culture and Health Care: Fact, Fiction, Folklore (1976) and The Healing Ritual (1983); chapters, "Ethnic and Cultural Factors Associated with High-Risk Maternity Outcomes: A Hispanic Perspective" in Infant Mortality, Morbidity, and Childhood Handicapping Conditions: Psychosocial Factors (1986); and, "The Health of Mexican Americans" in Community Health Nursing: Promoting the Health of Aggregates (1994, 1998). He was also known for presenting lectures on Mexican-American folk medicine to medical and healthcare professionals throughout the country.

He particularly enjoyed traveling, writing, and most of all, spending time with his spouse Michael.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, September 7, 2016 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Porter Loring Mortuary located at 1101 McCullough. A Christian Mass will be held at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, 223 E. Summit on Thursday, September 8, 2016 at 10:00am.