Mojica named Compassionate Caregiver of the Year
The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare has selected Gioconda Mojica, MD, assistant professor in the Ruiz Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, for the 2025 National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award.
“It is an incredible honor to receive the Schwartz Center’s 2025 National Compassionate Caregivers of the Year Award,” Mojica said. “To me, compassionate care begins with how we treat ourselves and each other. It’s not a soft skill. It’s a healing force. It means creating space for patients to feel seen and valued, especially in moments when they feel invisible and lost. I believe compassion is a skill that can be taught, practiced, and sustained, even in the most demanding health care environments.”
Mojica was honored with two additional recipients at the 30th annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Compassionate Healthcare Dinner on Nov. 18 in Boston. The event brings together health care leaders, clinicians, and supporters to raise funding for programs that help health care workers provide compassionate care to patients and families.
“These remarkable individuals demonstrate that compassion is not simply an ideal — it is a transformative force that heals, sustains, and uplifts everyone it touches,” said Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, CEO of the Schwartz Center. “Their dedication to fostering cultures of empathy and excellence reminds us why compassionate care must remain at the heart of our health care system.”
Mojica serves as both a corneal transplant surgeon at the Robert Cizik Eye Clinic and an assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual science at McGovern Medical School, where her patient care is deeply rooted in presence and human connection. She is known for taking time to understand each patient’s unique fears and hopes, making the surgical experience as emotionally supportive as it is clinically excellent.
Her approach has transformed how patients experience vision restoration, viewing it not just as a medical procedure but as a restoration of dignity and quality of life. One patient described her as “the person who gave me back my life, my light, and my dignity.”
In the classroom, Mojica designed innovative training programs aimed at strengthening resilience among health care trainees. She introduced an interprofessional elective on shame resilience grounded in self-compassion for medical, nursing, and dental students.
Since 1999, the Schwartz Center has honored health care professionals who display extraordinary compassion in caring for patients and families. The award recognizes professionals whose achievements have helped create healing health care environments for patients, families, colleagues, and communities. Award finalists are chosen by a national review committee.
“These exceptional individuals embody the healing power of human connection in health care,” said Jean-Paul Rebillard chair of the Schwartz Center board and president of MedPro Specialty at MedPro Group. “Their unwavering dedication to treating patients and families with dignity, empathy, and respect reminds us that compassionate care is a profound commitment to honoring the humanity in every person they serve. They inspire us all.”