Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Welcome to Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the official podcast of Ward Memorial Hospital, as we present candid chats with local medical experts and leaders, bringing health, healing, and hometown pride to every episode. I'm Melanie Cole. And today, we're thrilled to introduce you to Dr. Rowell De Leon, a family medicine physician with Ward Memorial Hospital, compassionate care rooted in community.

Dr. De Leon, thank you so much for joining us today. You grew up in the Philippines, worked as a registered nurse, and later became a family physician in West Texas. What inspired that journey? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Rowell De Leon, MD: First of all, thank you for having me. I'm very happy to be here. So, my journey really began with the service. So, I grew up in the Philippines. I was a registered nurse there. I wanted to care for people, help people during the most vulnerable moments in their lives. So, nursing gave me a good foundation, like on the bedside, it taught me to observe carefully, listen to people, and never forget the person behind the illness.

And then, over time, I wanted to take a greater responsibility in diagnosing patients, developing a plan for them, following them over the years. So, that led me to medical school and then to family medicine, training here in West Texas. So, family medicine feels l like home for me because it allows me to take care of the whole person, not just on a single episode of illness or not just a single organ—not just one organ, that's what I want to say. So although my roles has changed from being a nurse to a physician, but the purpose stayed the same. That is to serve people, earn their trust, and then help them live a healthy life.

Melanie Cole, MS: That's lovely. So thank you for sharing about your journey. Now, as I understand it, you were in emergency medicine and intensive care when you were a nurse. Tell us about the intensity of that and how that brought you around. You said the most vulnerable times of their lives. So, how did that bring you around to the way that you feel now about medicine?

Rowell De Leon, MD: Okay. So, emergency medicine and then ICU, it taught to, like, stay calm, notice the small changes when time matters. But it also taught me to look at patients and families, to listen to them, to communicate with them. Because even in a crisis, people or patients deserve the explanation that they need It's like giving reassurance. Whenever you explain it to them, you're showing them that you're truly paying attention.

So as a physician, I still carry the bedside manner that I have learned when I was a nurse. So, that's one of the most important things that I can say is you listen to the patient. So, you look, you observe, you look, how the way they respond to treatment. And I mean, those experiences combined, like, you'll be able to know the urgency of the situation, but you have to do it with compassion. At the emergency sometimes you have to make quick decisions, but we should never make those patients feel that they were rushed or their diagnosis was, like, reduced.

So, it's a combination. It's like both ends of the spectrum. You have to act quickly but accurately. That's what I've learned from both of those settings.

Melanie Cole, MS: Well, it certainly is a great learning experience to be under that kind of pressure. And then, as you say, to show your calm and your patience and certainly dealing with patients and their family when you're in intensive care in the emergency room is a whole thing in itself. So, that really is so important.

Now, you've spoken about the close-knit community that you grew up in. What drew you to Monahans and what feels meaningful to you now about practicing in a rural community?

Rowell De Leon, MD: Well, just like in the Philippines, I grew up in a small community wherein everyone knows everyone. So, Monahan's gives me that sense of same connection. Because here, you don't just care for the individual, you care for families, not just for families, but generations of people. So whenever you care for one person here or family, you're like building trust over time.

So, I wanted patients to feel that they have a doctor who knows their history, their family, understands their concerns, and will be present for both when they're weak or sick and then also when they're feeling well.

Rural medicine also gives me the chance to practice my full range of training. This allows me to contribute to the community, not simply work in a clinic, but also in the hospital. And it's like back in the Philippines. So, that's why it feels like personal to me.

Melanie Cole, MS: Dr. De Leon, you've told us about emergency medicine and intensive care and how that brought you around to the rural community. And as I understand it, you also have experience in outpatient care and hospital medicine. So when we think of those types of care, then we think of some long-term and chronic illnesses, how can you bring this all together for both the sudden and acute illnesses and the patience and calm that you exhibit, but also to the follow-up and the long-term chronic conditions that people have?

Rowell De Leon, MD: My background helps me see both immediate problem and the bigger picture. So in the clinic, I may be helping someone control diabetes or high blood pressure over many years. And then, in the hospital, I may be needing to recognize a condition that has become dangerous and requires a rapid treatment.

Because I work across outpatient, hospital, emergency, and the ICU, I understand how one part of this area connects to the next. I know that the information that the hospital team needs and what a patient may face after discharge. So, it's, like, interconnected to each other. So if you know a lot of areas, most of the areas, then you know what's the next phase for the patient. And that continuity is important for a patient.

My goal is not just to treat the symptoms. It's for them to understand why it happened, how to reduce the chance of it happening again, and then help the patient move safely from one stage of care to another.

Melanie Cole, MS: Now, you place a strong emphasis on dignity, kindness, respect, clear communication, which is so important today in medicine. What does compassionate care look like during an everyday visit with you?

Rowell De Leon, MD: So when you say compassionate, usually just like what I said before, compassionate care begins really with listening. Before you can make a good plan, you need to understand what brought this patient in, what are their worries, what may be making the treatment difficult, because two people can have the same diagnosis. Like, both of them can have high blood pressure, but they may have different lives, resources, and goals. So, they could have different outcome because of those.

So also, compassionate means, for me, protecting the patient's dignity. I try to speak to them slowly and the language that they could understand so that they could make the right decision if they have the right understanding. And also, you have to involve them with the decisions when it comes to their health. So, I want the patient to, like, whenever I see them in the clinic or in the hospital, I want them to leave or end that conversation knowing what we found, what we're planning, and what medications that they need to take and when to seek help. Like, when to follow up or when to go to the ED, things like that.

Melanie Cole, MS: Dr. De Leon, as we're talking about your philosophy of care and your approach to working with people as a whole person with wellness and disease for patients that are managing those chronic conditions, as we've discussed a little bit about diabetes and high blood pressure and heart disease or COPD, there's so many chronic conditions. Why is ongoing relationship with primary care just such an important aspect when you're thinking about managing those chronic conditions?

Rowell De Leon, MD: So here in the clinic, conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, COPD, those conditions cannot be managed on a single visit. So, they change over time, and the best treatment, you cannot do it on a single visit. So, the best approach there is to watch them, like, see them regularly, not just whenever they wanted to.

Treatment depends also on the patient's health, their financials, like economics, medication, lifestyle, and goals. So, it is important for a primary care physician and the patient to have an ongoing relationship. Because if you have an ongoing relationship with these patients, you will instantly be able to identify if this is the normal for that patient, if this patient needs, like, a certain laboratory, if this patient needs a referral to a specialist, or if this patient needs to go to the ED and be admitted.

Most importantly, you have to build trust, bcause that's thee basic foundation of a relationship. So when you know the patient over time, then it's easier for both of you to build that goal or you have the same goal. It will help the patient to have a healthier life and then, most of the time, stay away from the hospital.

Melanie Cole, MS: So important, building those relationships through trust, say, and compassion. Now, Dr. De Leon, this is my favorite question: What do you do for fun? Tell us a little bit about your family and your life outside of work. What are some things that your patients and maybe even your colleagues may not know about you?

Rowell De Leon, MD: I'm an easygoing guy. I usually love to cook, and then I play musical instruments. I love playing guitar. I'm not a good singer, but I love singing. I also play table tennis. I don't know if you're familiar with that game.

Melanie Cole, MS: Sure, we call it ping pong. But yeah, table tennis. Yeah, ping-pong.

Rowell De Leon, MD: Yeah. And I don't know if I have to say this, but I also play, like, video games at my age, okay? I still play.

Melanie Cole, MS: .But that's all fun and that's all such great things that make you so approachable, Dr. De Leon. You're lovely and you seem so approachable, really. Do you have some final thoughts for your patients that are listening and watching about you and being primary care at Ward Memorial Hospital?

Rowell De Leon, MD: Well, I just want them to know that I am here. I'm a physician that, is willing to help them. They can see me here at the clinic if they need the preventive care, primary care, hospital follow-up, referrals, individualized plan of care. I can help you live a healthier life. I just want you to know that there's a doctor here in Monahans that's willing to listen and help you when it comes to healthcare

Melanie Cole, MS: Thank you so much, Dr. De Leon. Really so well said and such important information. Thank you again for joining us. And for more information or to learn more about this and other healthcare topics, please visit our website at wardmemorial.com. That concludes today's episode of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the official podcast of Ward Memorial Hospital. We'd like to invite our audience to download, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and Pandora.