Executive Leadership

Ernesto Gómez, PhD.
President & CEO

Ernesto Gómez, Ph.D., is founder of El Centro del Barrio, now doing business as CentroMed. Dr. Gómez has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer at CentroMed since its inception in 1973 and now presides over a primary health care system that operates 27 ambulatory clinics in Bexar and Comal Counties and two (2) Fitness Centers. In 2022, CentroMed served 121,647 unduplicated patients involving 396,302 patient visits.

Dr. Gomez has served on numerous Board of Directors at the local, state and national levels. He has received numerous honors and awards for the work he has done in underserved communities. The most distinguishing honor he received is the “Well-being of Mankind” award presented by the Rockefeller Foundation. Gomez’s accomplishments include several publications in the social and behavioral sciences and in healthcare with special focus on the low income, uninsured populations.

Dr. Gomez is Professor Emeritus at Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) where, over the course of 37 years, he taught graduate level courses in research methods, quantitative methods, public policy, administration, human behavior, and social work practice. Dr. Gomez received his Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin.

Updated: October 2023

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Graciela Alarcon-Cigarroa, JD, LLM
General Counsel

Graciela A. Cigarroa is the General Counsel at El Centro del Barrio d/b/a CentroMed. Ms.Cigarroa provides in-house counsel to the Board of Directors and staff members; reviews CentroMed’s legal documents, policies and contracts; designs and implements trainings for CentroMed staff; conducts federal and state statute, regulation, and policy analysis; performs privacy officer duties overseeing the organizations privacy policies and procedures; and assists with the implementation of the corporate compliance program addressing a variety of legal issues to enable compliant and efficient operations.

Ms. Cigarroa joined CentroMed in April of 2011 from the Law Office of Graciela A. Cigarroa. She has over 25 years of legal experience with a focus for the last 15 years on nonprofit and health law. She has been published and has been a frequent speaker in the area of HIPAA privacy law.

Ms. Cigarroa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from St. Mary’s University, a Juris Doctor degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law and a Master of Laws degree in tax law from Boston University School of Law. She is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and sits on several community boards.

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Norma G. Parra, MD
Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer

Dr Norma Parra is a Family Practice Physician. She joined CentroMed in 1991 and became Chief Medical Officer for CentroMed in 1993. CentroMed is a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center with 23 sites providing Primary Care in primarily medically underserved areas.

Dr Norma Parra received her Bachelor of Science degree from Yale University and her MD degree from Texas Tech Health Science Center. She fulfilled her Family Practice Residency requirements at University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas.

After Residency and prior to joining CentroMed, Dr Norma Parra worked with homeless population at Venice Family Clinic in Venice, California.

Dr Norma Parra is a member of Texas Academy of Family Practice, American Academy of Family Practice, Mexican American Hispanic Physicians Association and National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA).

She currently serves as Board Member of NHMA and also serves on Utilization Review Committee and Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee for Superior Health Plan.

Prior positions include Board Member for Ethics Committee of Bexar County Medical Society and Advisor for local Metro Health Department.

Awards include: Prudential Salute to Healthcare, Ford Salute to Education in Healthcare, Icon in Healthcare Award and Distinguished Women in Healthcare.

Dr Norma Parra was born and raised in Corpus Christi Texas. She is married to Dr Ernesto Parra and they have 3 children – Sonia, Elsa and Jaime.

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Don Macaulay, MBA
Senior Vice President & Chief Operations Officer

Mr. Macaulay presently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for CentroMed, a Federally Qualified Health Center providing medical and dental care, behavioral health services and other supportive health services through a network of 24 clinic sites that include Bexar and Comal Counties. Mr. Macaulay is responsible for the clinical operations for medical, dental, and behavioral health services throughout the organization. Other responsibilities include: optometry, WIC, adult day care, CentroMed’s Fitness Center, facilities management, and management of construction projects.

Prior to joining CentroMed, Mr. Macaulay held several management positions in hospitals with Humana and Columbia/HCA.

Mr. Macaulay presently serves as the board chair for the Healthcare Access San Antonio a non-profit organization that is the Health Information Exchange (HIE) for South Central Texas that includes a 22 county service area. Mr. Macaulay has served on the board since October 2011.

Mr. Macaulay earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

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Lawrence Charles “Chuck” Walzel, CPA
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Chuck Walzel serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for El Centro del Barrio d/b/a CentroMed. In this capacity, he manages the financial strategy and accounting operations of a company with assets in excess of $61 million and an operating budget of more than $54 million which provides services to over 75,000 patients per year. Walzel is committed to maximizing profitability, productivity and efficiency, securing assets, assuring regulatory and GAAP compliance and developing strategies which support growth, liquidity, contingency reserves and conservative fiscal practices.

Walzel joined CentroMed in 1998 from The Center for Health Care Services where he served as the Chief Financial Officer. He joined the Center for Health Care Services in 1994 as Budget Manager and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 1996. Previously he spent 7 years at BancPlus Mortgage Corporation as a Senior Financial Analyst specializing in long range forecasting and portfolio acquisition modeling. Prior to that, he spent 3 years at Commerce Savings Association as an Accountant II in the Real Estate Owned / Commercial Foreclosure division and 2 years at American Mayflower Moving and Storage as a Staff Accountant.

In addition, Walzel has worked part-time evenings as an Adjunct Professor at San Antonio College from 1991-1994 in the Computer Information Systems school teaching spreadsheet design. He also worked as Adjunct Professor for the University of the Incarnate Word at the HEB School of Business from 2004-2007 teaching advanced corporate finance and governmental accounting.

Walzel holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Stephen F. Austin State University and a master of business administration degree from Webster University. He is also licensed as a Certificated Public Accountant with the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy.

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Anna Serrano, DrPH, MBA
Senior Vice President & Chief Population Health Officer

Dr. Anna Serrano is the Senior Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer for El Centro del Barrio dba CentroMed, responsible for the agency’s Population Health Management program focused on the coordination of care delivery across populations to improve clinical and financial outcomes through disease management, case management and demand management. She also manages all aspects of the agency’s Compliance/Performance Improvement Program, grant procurement, existing service contracts to ensure compliance with performance, reporting and regulatory requirements and all activities related to organizational certifications and accreditations, including The Joint Commission and NCQA. Additionally, Dr. Serrano manages the agency’s Navigation Center, which houses the Nurse Triage Line, Medical Records Department, Referrals Department, Patient Appointment Line and Patient Care Coordination.

Inclusive of her time at CentroMed, Dr. Serrano has been working for FQHCs for over 20 years, serving in various roles along the way. She earned her Bachelors in Social Science through Florida State University, majoring in Sociology and Criminal Justice; her Master of Public Health through UTHSC-Houston School of Public Health, Master of Business Administration through Webster University, and her Doctorate of Public Health from the UTHSC-Houston School of Public Health.

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Ana Maria Garza Cortez, MA
Senior Vice President & Chief Development Officer

Ana Maria Garza Cortez serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer at CentroMed, a Federally Qualified Health Center in San Antonio.  She is responsible for marketing, fundraising, public relations, customer service, event planning as well as overseeing the eligibility and outreach & enrollment departments. Ana Maria received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Our lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and her Master of Arts from Webster University – Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. She serves as a leader on the Enroll SA/Get Bexar Covered Coalition, which is comprised of a group of local hospitals, community agencies, faith based organizations and many non-profits working to increase awareness about the Affordable Care Act and help people find healthcare options to meet their budgets. In March of 2016, Ana Maria was recognized by The White House as A Champion of Change for her leadership in promoting and assisting families to enroll in health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. She has served on several non-profit boards and currently serves on the board of directors with the Madonna Neighborhood Center and the Good Samaritan Center. Ana Maria and her husband Andres Cortez have two children.

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Carlos D. Gómez, MHA
Vice President - Regional Operations

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Margarita Seaman, MHA, DDS
Vice President – Strategic Operations

Margarita Seaman joined Centromed’s executive team in August 2016. She has over 18 years of health care management experience, including practice management, healthcare consulting and hospital administration. Prior to Centromed, she served as Chief Operations Officer at Bandera Family Healthcare, Chief Operations Officer at Allerta Corp, and Director of a division of the Nix Healthcare System. Ms. Seaman has a strong background on financial management, revenue enhancement, business development, and compliance with federal and state requirements.

Ms. Seaman holds a degree in dentistry from Universidad Javeriana Escuela de Odontologia in Bogota, Colombia and a Masters in Health Care Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

In 2005, Dr. Seaman was selected as “40 under 40 Rising Stars of San Antonio” by The San Antonio Business Journal.

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Raymond Wei, MS, FACHE
Vice President & Chief Information Officer

Raymond currently serves as Vice President & Chief Information Officer for El Centro del Barrio (CentroMed), a Federally Qualified Health Center located in San Antonio, Texas. He is responsible for managing the Information Technology and Health Informatics areas. Before assuming the role of CIO, he managed the Patient Navigation Center, pharmacy, and laboratory operations. Prior to joining CentroMed in 2010, Mr. Wei was Director of Strategic Planning and Physician Contracting for a major hospital system in San Antonio, Texas, with 14 years of progressive responsibility in areas including planning and business development, physician recruitment and contracting, operational and financial analysis, and social accountability and community benefits.

Mr. Wei is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry from Rice University in Houston and a Master of Science degree in Health Care Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Good Samaritan Community Services, and he previously served as Board chair of The Bexar County Community Health Collaborative and served on the Board of Directors for the San Antonio Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. On the home front, Mr. Wei enjoys spending quality time with his wife Christina and their five children.

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David K. Amason,
Associate Vice President - Assistant Chief Information Officer

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Christopher D. Heiser,
Associate Vice President - Finance

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Angelica Padilla, PHR, SHRM-CP
Associate Vice President - Human Resources

Angelica Padilla became a part of CentroMed’s executive team in June 2023, assuming the role of Associate Vice President of Human Resources. With a career spanning over 16 years, she has garnered extensive expertise in Human Resources across a wide spectrum of industries, including retail, healthcare, business services, logistics, metal manufacturing, and food manufacturing.

Angelica’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in Accounting, as well as a Master of Business Administration, both earned from Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas. Her commitment to professional excellence is evident through her certification as a Professional in Human Resources by the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) since 2014 and her certification from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) since 2015. She maintains active membership in SHRM, and she is currently affiliated with the San Antonio SHRM chapter.

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Aysun Alagoz, MD
Associate Chief Medical Officer

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Veronica Betancur, MD
Associate Chief Medical Officer

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Yuly Carreras, MD
Associate Chief Medical Officer

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Clevert Tseng, MD
Associate Chief Medical Officer

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