The Wichita Business Journal has announced the 2026 Healthcare Heroes, and this year's honorees include numerous KU School of Medicine-Wichita faculty members and alumni, including one honored for lifetime achievement and several earning honors in categories for physicians, healthcare educator and healthcare innovation.

This is the 17th year for the awards, and this year's Healthcare Heroes will be recognized at an award ceremony and dinner Sept. 1 at Mark Arts in Wichita.

You can view all of this year’s honorees on the WBJ website. Below are Healthcare Heroes award recipients listed under the category of the award.

Lifetime Achievement

• Joaquin Santos, M.D., student alumnus, resident alumnus

Healthcare Educator

• Tessa Rohrberg, M.D., student alumnus, resident alumnus, associate professor, Family & Community Medicine

Healthcare Innovation

• Justin Gooden, M.D., student alumnus, resident alumnus
• Ryan Schroeder, Psy.D., fellow alumnus, volunteer associate professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Physicians

• Ali Ahmad, M.D., volunteer clinical associate professor, Surgery
• Blake Gorman, D.O., resident alumnus,clinical assistant professor, Anesthesiology
• Howard Chang, M.D., volunteer clinical instructor, Internal Medicine
• Paul Enns, M.D., resident alumnus, volunteer clinical instructor, Orthopaedics
• David Mayans, M.D., student alumnus, clinical assistant professor, Internal Medicine
• Joseph Moore, M.D., volunteer clinical assistant professor, Internal Medicine
• Aaron Nilhas, M.D., student alumnus, resident alumnus, volunteer clinical assistant professor, Surgery
• Kahlil Saad, M.D., volunteer clinical instructor, Pediatrics