COVER STORY · JULY 2018
Why don't you tell me
a bit more about her?
Christina became the rock that I needed to be
able to continue to grow and move forward. Most
importantly, she was able to give me my biggest
achievement, my two beautiful children - Christian
and Gabriella. This lovely family was the force
that I needed to be able to finish my education
and continue to excel even after I established
my private practice. After finishing residency, I
could have gone anywhere in the United States. I
had a lot of opportunities and great ones at that;
however, my wife was instrumental to my return
to the Rio Grande Valley with my family. To start
fresh, new, and to build on the dream that I had
since childhood. Since the day I started my private
practice in August 2002, we have continued to
grow, improve and facilitate the improvement of
medical care in the Rio Grande Valley.
Where do you think the value
lies in coming back to the
community that raised you?
The value lies in really being able to affect change.
You know the area well, you know its people well,
and therefore you know how they’re going to react
to change as you bring in new services and ideas.
If one understands the language, the personality,
the cultural issues — it makes one much more
likely to be able to implement change. In this case,
I think the Rio Grande Valley has exploded because
of talent that has either remained or has been
willing to make some sacrifice to come back and be
patient so that the area can prosper. I think we have
only begun to see the growth potential of the Rio
Grande Valley as a region, and it's up to us to see
that it grows appropriately.
Why do you believe the area
is so in need of change?
It’s probably because corporate America either
didn’t invest in this area, or did invest in the area,
but minimally. Essentially, what I mean is when
corporations would come here they'd just profit
off the backs of the hardworking people in this
community. Luckily for the citizens of the Rio
Grande Valley, there were local leaders who were
visionaries, smart thinkers, and they were able
to think outside the box and help us think in a
regional way.
Could you expand on that?
By regional, I mean as opposed to siloed, city by
city. This helped in particular because we needed
to show strength as a region, in order to pool
together the money and resources that were,
unfortunately, very scarce south of San Antonio.
These strong thinkers, which included people like
my father and other local businesspeople, started
to believe in themselves and what they were
doing for the community. After all, who knew the
community better? Who was more responsive
to the community? Who met people day in and
day out? It was the local people. Because of that,
we were able to grow and secure more and more
resources. Our job as leaders also is to show
children and citizens of the region that we can do a
better job than most people from out of the area.
And this isn’t just in health care. It could be in any
other industry: farming, banking, education. All of
these areas seemed to grow because we were able
to believe in ourselves, teach our children to believe
in themselves, and develop a great work ethic.
Fortunately, the Valley
has never had a problem
coming up with people
who want and are willing
to work hard to make
a living. We’ve been
very fortunate in that
sense. There’s a strong
community and plenty of
community members who
want to do it themselves.
We’ve already started to
see the benefits, and will
continue to as long as we
can show our citizens why
it’s essential to think large
as one big group.
So let's get back to Dr. Martinez.
How did you get to where you are today?
After about ten years of private practice, both in the
clinic and in the hospital, I was given a chance to get
involved with hospital administration, and was appointed
the chief of staff at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance
(now DHR Health). It was a tremendous opportunity,
not just because the hospital was growing at a rapid
pace, but because of its goal of fulfilling the same vision
that I had, which was providing world-class health
care, right here in the Rio Grande Valley. This is so that
our citizens wouldn’t have to travel, especially if they
couldn’t, to get that same care they'd expect up north.
Throughout the years, I climbed the ranks and became
a physician executive, as well as chief medical officer,
and senior executive vice president of DHR Health.
That is where we are today. I’ve been in my position for
approximately 5 years, and again it continues to allow
me to grow in every form or fashion. But, certainly the
biggest achievement is in being able to provide world-
class health care to our citizens here in the Rio Grande
Valley, stretching from Laredo to Brownsville, all the way
up north to Falfurrias. DHR’s footprint has expanded
and will continue to do so because we are willing to
step into different communities and neighborhoods
to provide the medical care that they need, when they
need it.
And how are you going about doing this?
We have brought down medical specialists in
unprecedented numbers and will continue to do so.
Both for adults and children, these services will continue
to expand, according to the vision of many community
and board members, including mine. People ask me all
the time, what is the difference between your hospital
and any other corporate hospital, and it is obvious.
The people making the decisions are physicians at the
bedside and community leaders down the street, all with
the same goal in mind: patients that can’t travel, don’t
need to.
So, of course, it's important to mention that
you're being interviewed because you were
hand-picked for an incredible position.
Can you tell us a bit more about that?
I have to say that I was very honored to be chosen by
Governor Greg Abbott to represent South Texas on
the Texas Medical Board. I look forward to making a
difference and bringing experiences from South Texas,
along with good ideas to implement to bring better
health care to all Texans. I hope this opportunity will
further allow me to grow along with future leaders of
the region and state. I encourage these future leaders,
and all men or women who wish to take a similar course,
to keep on keeping on; don’t let anybody tell you what
you can or cannot do. You can do anything if you set
your mind to it.
By Andres Portillo
13 HEALTHY MAGAZINE