His mission is to serve the world. His expertise in endocrinology is a perfect fit - as many as 50 percent of Latinos have diabetes. Gallo said most patients don't even know the soft-spoken Hurd, who gives 15 hours a week to the clinic, is a priest. Edgar Vasquez was a recent patient of Hurd's. After the visit was finished, he was asked through an interpreter if he knew that Dr. Hurd also was Father Hurd.
Patients are from the neighborhood and throughout the metro area.
Hurd has been a doctor for 22 years and a priest for nine. He took the longest route to the priesthood, becoming a Jesuit. The order requires 10 years of study after college. The priesthood especially interested Hurd because he could work with Spanish speaking people who needed health care, he said. He honed that pursuit in Mexico and Bolivia.