Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and associate vice president for diversity and community engagement at The University of Texas at Austin, has been appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HRSA is the primary federal agency devoted to expanding the health care workforce in geographically isolated and underserved communities. As a member of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, Martinez will be helping to advise HHS on issues related to rural areas.
“I am excited to have this opportunity to contribute to such an important body,” said Martinez.“The potential to influence federal policy as it relates to rural America is an honor, especially given that about 3.8 million Texans live in 177 rural counties throughout the Lone Star state.”
Along with his position at the Hogg Foundation, Martinez is a clinical professor in the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He holds a doctor’s degree in medicine from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University’s School of Public Health, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration with a concentration in finance from The University of Texas at Austin.
The Hogg Foundation advances recovery and wellness in Texas by supporting mental health services, policy analysis, research and public education. The foundation was created in 1940 by the children of former Texas Gov. James S. Hogg and is part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.