Posted: 10/18/2022
Name change honors late Dallas-area medical leader
The RedBird Health Center, the newest of Parkland Health’s Community Oriented Primary Care health centers in Dallas County, is receiving a new name.
On Thursday, October 20, a renaming ceremony will celebrate the “C.V. Roman Health Center” at 10 a.m. at the clinic, 3560 W. Camp Wisdom Road, Suite 100, Dallas, 75237. Media is invited to attend and will have access to interviews and celebratory visuals.
Charles Victor Roman was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1864. He was educated at Hamilton Collegiate Institute in Ontario, Canada and in 1886, entered Meharry Medical College, graduating in 1890. Roman then attended the Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital of Chicago and the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital and Central London Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in England for additional education. He practiced medicine in Clarksville, Tennessee, then, in 1893, opened a medical practice in Dallas.
Dr. Roman practiced in Dallas until 1904 before returning to Tennessee and opening a practice specializing in otolaryngology in Nashville. He died of a heart attack on Aug. 25, 1934, in Nashville. The C.V Roman Medical Society Dallas-Ft. Worth Chapter of the National Medical Association is named in his honor.
“Dr. Roman was a pioneer of the African American healthcare community who spoke out against racial injustice and urged people of all races and ethnicities to work together,” said Fred Cerise, MD, Parkland’s President and CEO. “We are honored to rename this health center after an individual who did so much for healthcare in Dallas County and promoted the training of African Americans as healthcare professionals.”
Through his writings and orations, Dr. Roman urged African Americans to support Black churches, retail establishments, medical facilities, banks and schools. He criticized racial prejudice and stressed the contributions of Blacks to American civilization.
“The C.V. Roman Medical Society and its membership of physicians are delighted that Parkland Health has decided to honor our namesake, Dr. C.V. Roman, with the naming of the new RedBird facility in his honor,” said James L. Carlisle, MD, President of the C.V. Roman Medical Society, Dallas-Ft. Worth Chapter of the National Medical Association. “From his time at the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital and Central London Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in England, to his private practice in Dallas to founding the Department of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology at Meharry Medical College to serving as President of the National Medical Association to editing the Journal of the National Medical Association, Dr. Roman exemplifies the physician-scholar-educator who impacts communities with comprehensive medical care, dissemination of cutting edge information and discovery and educating the next generation of physicians."
“A better or more fitting physician could not have been chosen to highlight this new facility and its part in re-introducing the Redbird area as it transforms and becomes a hub of health and wellness in Dallas,” Dr. Carlisle added.
The former RedBird Health Center opened in the fall of 2021 for people who reside in southern Dallas County, including Duncanville, DeSoto, Glenn Heights, Lancaster and Cedar Hill.
The one-story, 40,000-square-foot health center includes adult, pediatric and geriatric preventive and primary care, behavioral health, lab, pharmacy and radiology services, among other healthcare and support services.
For more information about Parkland services, visit www.parklandhealth.org.