Paul F. O'Rourke (August 31, 1924 – January 28, 2012) was a founding member of Operation USA and its first board chair,[1] the first Director of the California State Office of Economic Opportunity,[2] a public health advisor to Senator Robert F. Kennedy and numerous state and federal agencies,[3] and a Board Chairman of the San Francisco Trauma Foundation.
Born August 31, 1924, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, O'Rourke was a 1948 graduate of Harvard University Medical School and an early proponent of equal access to health care for underprivileged and disenfranchised populations.
[5] Under pressure from local growers and out of concern for the agricultural economy, the county Board of Supervisors directed O'Rourke to withhold health services from strikers and union sympathizers among the farm worker ranks, but he did not comply.
[10][11][12][13][14][15] In that role Dr. O'Rourke helped coordinate the efforts of state agencies to establish equal access to housing, employment, education, and health services.
[20] Throughout his career, O'Rourke served as a consultant to the National Association of County Governments,[21] and continued to assist cities and municipalities in setting up public health programs.
[7][27] He was described by author Wendy Brooks as "a fiery Irishman"[28] and at his death, USA Today Journalist Linda Bixby said: "Paul O'Rourke was eloquent, scrappy, witty, and courageous.