Valley nonprofit St. Vincent de Paul has named Dr. John Anwar of Litchfield Park as its new medical director. In the role, he will lead the organization’s Virginia G. Piper Medical Clinic.

The clinic is Arizona’s largest charity clinic focusing on preventative and specialty care for uninsured patients, according to a release.

The medical director position is a dual one through SVdP’s recent clinic partnership with Creighton University’s Health Sciences – Phoenix campus, where Dr. Anwar is an assistant professor.

Additionally, he practices internal medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. Leading SVdP’s clinic, Dr. Anwar will coordinate across the systems of care to increase access to medical specialty care for uninsured patients.

Increasing access to quality care to those who do not have medical insurance is near and dear to Dr. Anwar’s heart, the release stated.

As a child, he witnessed family tragedy due to financial constraint and a lack of access to affordable health care. It spurred Dr. Anwar to become a doctor and prevent the same outcome for other families living in communities of need.

“I am honored to have this tremendous opportunity, to serve those most in need,” Dr. Anwar said in a prepared statement. “This work is what I do to pay back, to reach out to see communities like the one I came from.”

In the video below, Dr. Anwar discusses his work and why he's passionate about improving medical care for those who are uninsured.

Originally from southern Egypt, Dr. Anwar came to the U.S. in 1997, when he was 19.

At 21, he earned a grant to the University of California, Davis. He finished his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and biochemistry, before attending Ross University School of Medicine.

Dr. Anwar completed rotations in Baltimore and Bakersfield, California, before coming to St. Joseph’s in Phoenix for his residency, where he earned his full-time position.

In recognition of the need for medical and dental services, SVdP opened its first charity clinic in 1977. The clinic was revamped and relocated to its current site on SVdP’s main campus, 420 W. Watkins Road in Phoenix, in 1994.

An overwhelming need again called for a clinic expansion, completed in 2019 with the help of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the release stated. With the help of volunteer physicians, nurses, medical professionals and partnerships the clinic provides a range of preventative and specialty care treatment of acute illnesses to chronic diseases such as diabetes.