Angel Oak Award 2017 Honoree
Dr. Victor Agusta
The 2017 Angel Oak Award recipient, Dr. Victor Agusta, has served as a volunteer primary health care physician at the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic (BIFMC) since it opened its doors in 2008. The BIFMC has the mission of understanding and serving the health and wellness needs of uninsured, low-income adults who live or work on Johns, Wadmalaw, and James Islands. The clinic has served over 4000 patients since it opened in 2008 and has over 350 patient visits each month.
As one of the original volunteer physicians at the free clinic, Dr. Agusta dove right into the unfamiliar territory of treating an impoverished population. Rising to the challenge of working with a diverse population, he developed a deep sense of interconnection, patience, and compassion that earned him the trust and respect of both patients and colleagues alike. During a normal week, Dr. Agusta will see patients every Wednesday afternoon and sometimes as needed on Monday evenings. Since joining BIFMC, he has retrained himself as a first rate primary care physician and now spends 5 hours weekly on urology and primary care continuing medical education for state licensing. He has been instrumental in supporting the growth of the clinic as the number one recruiter of volunteer doctors and nurses.
Dr. Agusta takes great pleasure in his ability to counsel and connect with his patients, finding reward in the steady pace of physician-patient interactions. A lifelong teacher but also a student of life, he has always stressed the importance of the patient-physician relationship: educating but also learning from those he treats. For Dr. Agusta, treating the same patients over time and understanding their life experiences creates a level of trust necessary to deliver effective preventative primary care.
Dr. Agusta is a native of Brooklyn, New York and attended St. Johns University and received his M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He had residences at Hartford Hospital, Hartford Connecticut and the University of Virginia where he received an M.S. Degree in Surgery. He joined the U.S. Air Force as a Medical Officer but was attached to the U.S. Army. He served a tour in Vietnam with the 1st Air Cavalry Division as a Battalion Surgeon and as a General Surgeon with the 95th Evacuation Hospital.
Dr. Agusta practiced medicine in Lancaster, PA for 30 years and was a principal in the Urological Associates of Lancaster. He was on the Board of Lancaster General Hospital where he was President of the Medical Staff and Chief of Urology. The Urology Department at Lancaster General was ranked among the top 50 in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report. He was very active with the Southeast Lancaster Health Center which provided free services to those in need. After retirement, he volunteered at the Lancaster General Hospital Urology clinic and was awarded an Outstanding Teacher Award. He was Vice-President of the Lancaster Medical Society, on the Board of Lancaster Catholic High School, and coached his children’s softball and baseball teams.
Dr. Agusta has owned a property on Seabrook Island since 1979 and has been a full time resident since 2010. He has served on the Seabrook Island Property Owners Association Board of Directors, the Hidden Oak Regime Board, and the Greenspace Conservancy Board. He was also a volunteer at Our Lady of Mercy Outreach Mission. Dr. Agusta has been married to his wife Carol for 52 years and they have three children (Victor, Jr., Michael, and Stefanie) and six grandchildren.
This year’s Angel Oak Award Banquet will be held on Wednesday, March 21, at the Seabrook Island Club. Chef Randy MacDonald will prepare another excellent dinner, there will be a cash bar and musical entertainment will be provided by Mike and the Mixers. The popular Post and Courier columnist Warren Peper will be our speaker. Tickets are only $50 per person and advance reservations are a must! You do not need to be an Exchange Club member to attend, but you may want to become a member when you learn more about the camaraderie and community spirit of Exchange Club members. For reservations, send your name, phone number & address along with a check to the KSEC Foundation at: KSEC Foundation, 130 Gardeners Circle PMB – J, Johns Island, SC 29455. For further information, please visit our website www.ks-exchangeclub.com.
The Kiawah-Seabrook Exchange Club established the Angel Oak Award in 2012 to recognize a volunteer who has made an outstanding contribution to the people or quality of life of Wadmalaw Island, Johns Island, Seabrook Island and Kiawah Island. The award was named the “Angel Oak Award” in recognition of the famous live oak tree which so clearly represents the people, cultures and natural environment of the islands. The Exchange Club of Kiawah-Seabrook Foundation was established in 2016 and is now the sponsor of the Angel Oak Award.