Rottnek Recognized by Catholic Health Association

Rottnek Recognized by Catholic Health Association

Fred Rottnek, M.D., professor of family and community medicine at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, has been named the 2026 winner of the Sister Carol Keehan Award by the Catholic Health Association (CHA).

Created in honor of Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, for her work to ensure everyone has access to quality health care, the Sister Carol Keehan Award is given annually to someone who advances the healing mission of Jesus by valiantly advocating for a more equitable and compassionate health system.

"I am honored to receive this recognition from the Catholic Health Association," Rottnek said. "In addition to being grateful for the personal recognition, I am even more grateful for the recognition of the work -care and advocacy for those of us who are often marginalized or overlooked. I hope the attention to this work will inspire Catholic systems to engage more fully in outside-of-the-box, off-the-hospital-campus opportunities to build and sustain much-needed, mission-focused care.

A graduate of the School of Medicine, Rottnek has been with SLU since 2008. In addition to his role as a professor, he serves as a division director in the division of community medicine and as the program director for the addiction medicine fellowship program, launched in 2019. The fellowship, one of the first of its kind, offers physicians the opportunity to complete rotations in a variety of specialties, including family medicine and maternal-fetal medicine, while learning to treat patients with addiction disorders.

He has also worked with the School of Law by helping to create a course on the legal-medical intersection of opioid abuse.

Rottnek served as the medical director of the Saint Louis County Jail and Juvenile Detention at Family Courts from 2001 to 2016. In that role, he worked as an advocate for medical services for inmates.

The award will be presented at the CHA Assembly in St. Louis in June.