Dr. Ivan Cardenas, wife Silvia, and son, Rodrigo, are ready to embark on a new life in Monahans. (Photo by Donald Bard)

 

 

Potential for family attracts doctor to Monahans

By DONALD BARD

Staff writer

For Dr. Ivan Cardenas, choosing Monahans for the new home for himself, his wife, Silvia and his 13 year-old son, Rodrigo, may have been easier than many would imagine. In an interview with The News Cardenas said, “Any place that is not Peru, is in some way the same for us. Whether it is New York City or a small town, it is not where we grew up.” When looking for a place to live, Cardenas and his wife set criteria for what is important. As a specialist in Internal Medicine in a large city, Cardenas knew from experience, he would be only part of a team. Even as a young child, Cardenas knew he wanted to work with individual patients, and in the language of current medicine, be the primary care physician, perhaps referring the patient to other specialists when needed, but being the patient’s doctor in the office and in the hospital whenever possible. The first item on the list of criteria was the ability to practice personal medicine.

After three years in New York City, both Cardenas and his wife decided they needed to be someplace without the harsh winters they had just experienced firsthand. For item number two, the southern United States beckoned. They considered locations from Alabama to California.

According to Cardenas’ cousin, who is a pediatrician, Texas is a great place to practice medicine the way Cardenas wants to practice. Although it has large cities, it also has small to medium cities and towns, so they looked at several places in Texas.

And the final item, the location, had to be a good place to raise a family. It had to be safe, the schools had to be capable, and the people had to be welcoming.

On their short initial visit to Monahans, all of the items on the Cardenas’ list were met. Hospital Administrator Larry Elliott was seeking a doctor who wanted to build a practice here and help bring the hospital services up to a higher standard. Chamber of Commerce Director Teresa Burnett opened the doors to the community to interact with the Cardenas family, and Kathy Dutcher helped them feel at home among the hospital and clinic staff.

Cardenas said, “Medicine has to be more than a job. I know I have to make money, that is the job part of it, but for me, it has to help people. And people have to trust their doctor. In this town, we feel we can be part of building that trust.”

Silvia said, “In the three years we were in New York, I never met any parents of Rodrigo’s classmates. I already know I will know the parents of his friends here.”

On arrival, Cardenas was ready to work. Not only did he begin seeing patients at the Sandhills Clinic, he spent one evening and then a weekend in the emergency room.

The sign outside the Sandhills Clinic lists him as I. Cardenas-Gomez, MD. By tradition many Spanish language cultures add the mother’s family name, especially in formal documents. As a Medicare provider, the formal name on Cardenas’ Texas medical license and visa is required. For Cardenas, he is pleased to honor his mother and grandmother who provided so much to him, his wife, and his son. In fact, his mother will soon join the family here. And that may help make Monahans seem a little more like Lima and a lot more like home.

 

 

 

Read below regarding our new doctor at Sandhills Family Clinic.

 

Below is a news article that was featured in the Monahans News Paper