Newly opened DHR Health Brownsville welcomes patients

Apr. 7—DHR Health Brownsville has opened as this area's newest hospital, achieving a longstanding goal and bringing back to life the long vacant hospital at 4750 N. Expressway.

"So we opened Monday, March 27, and in our first 24 hours, we had our first patient coming in through the ER. And it hasn't stopped. We've had people coming in through the ER and walk-ins as well, even through EMS or patients driving themselves to the ER. And of course, we've had surgeries all last week, and we've continued to have surgeries this week as well," said Aida Coronado-Garcia, the Chief Operating Officer at DHR Health Brownsville and a Brownsville native.

The first surgical patient at DHR Health Brownsville underwent a successful procedure on March 20 in what is now a historical marker for the future of health care in the area. General surgeon Dr. Cera Kroenke performed the operation, which included an excision of an axillary mass requiring a high degree of precision and skill, the hospital said.

"I am honored to have been chosen to perform the first surgical case at DHR Health Brownsville. It is a privilege to be part of this remarkable team of healthcare professionals dedicated to delivering the highest quality of care to our patients in Cameron County," Kroenke said, calling the surgery "a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in bringing this hospital to life in an area where there is a need for more access to care."

DHR Health was founded in Edinburg in 1997 and is the only doctor-owned health system in the Rio Grande Valley. From its hub in Edinburg, DHR offers some 70 specialty and sub-specialty clinics at hospitals in Edinburg, McAllen, Starr County and now Brownsville.

A presence in Brownsville has always been part of the plan, Coronado-Garcia said.

"Being from Brownsville and driving by on the expressway and seeing this empty for so many years was sad because the community needs specialty care. There's a need here, and when you're from Brownsville and you see this building that was just sitting here for many, many years empty and with a great location right off the expressway was sad, so we were able to bring this back to life," she said.

The hospital is three stories high, has 80,000 square feet of space and 59 beds. DHR Health is creating about 300 jobs in Cameron County to bring it back to life. It has an intensive care unit. Four operating rooms are being added to bring the total to six, Coronado-Garcia said.

"So we're trying to bring the specialties that we currently have in Edinburg here for Cameron County, and that's going to be based on community demand. What the community is needing is what we're going to be providing here locally. You know, we'll bring specialties that are currently not in Brownsville or where there's a shortage of doctors. For example Dr. Kroenke...she's already done surgeries. She's one of our general surgeons, the only female general surgeon with DHR," Coronado-Garcia said.

The clinics are right next to the hospital in Doctor's Medical Plaza, "so that's where the physicians see patients and then they just pretty much walk on over to the hospital," she said.

Kroenke is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, has been in the Valley since 2017, did her medical residency at DHR Edinburg, and now practices in the Valley as a general surgeon.

"So when I was graduating residency, wanting to be a general surgeon, that's a field that doesn't exist everywhere. When you get to a lot of big cities there's a lot of sub-specialized medicine. General surgeons aren't as much needed, and they are looking for more sub-specialized surgeons. And so when the opportunity to stay at DHR Health and especially help create and open the hospital in Brownsville, that was something that was very important to me," she said.

"This was a community that I had trained in for five years. I fell in love with my patients, you know with the health system. I felt very supported and feel very honored that they've wanted to keep me on board and hire me as a general surgeon and the first female staff general surgeon was something that was very exciting for all of us," Kroenke said.

"Being able to provide care for the patients in Brownsville, I think, gives them another opportunity of care. Female surgeons are not very common in this area, so for the female patients that are more comfortable with female surgeons, it gives them another option and also just serves the needs of the community at large," Kroenke said.

Coronado-Garcia joined DHR Health a little more than six years ago.

"When I first came on that was the plan, that the end goal was to have a hospital here. So we started with the clinics. We started with specialties that were not being offered in Brownsville or those that had you know maybe one or two doctors here. Being a clinician, a nurse practitioner myself, we could have specialties here that could be seen within that same month as opposed to waiting six months," she said.

"You know, we wanted to help the primary doctors here locally, instead of having to travel either to Edinburg or travel outside of Cameron County. Most of these patients were having to go to San Antonio or to Houston before, and as we're all aware, some of these patients can't even cross the checkpoint. We don't want to separate families. We wanted to be able to provide the specialties here locally," she said.

Kroenke said she continues to see patients in her clinic and to schedule elective procedures on a weekly basis.

"Right now as we continue to build the practice, get the word out in the community that the hospital's finally open, I will spend more time in Brownsville, but currently my main practice is in McAllen, in Edinburg. However, I'm very good about if patients call me, if they need a referral to be seen very quickly, I'm more than willing to come to Brownsville to see them rather than on my clinic's scheduled day, which is Thursday," she said.

"As her volume goes up she will be here, hopefully Monday through Friday," Coronado-Garcia said, then added there's a sense of fulfillment in seeing DHR Brownsville finally open.

"I'm just honored for the opportunity to be a part of DHR. I mean DHR is such an amazing hospital. I mean we're doing amazing things, so being able to provide care for the Brownsville community means the world to me. This is where my family is, this is where my friends are and to be able to provide this here locally is a God's gift for me," she said.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for April 26 at 10 a.m.