Physicians Should Take Back Healthcare | Dr. Carlos Cárdenas on Building America’s Only Physician-Owned Level 1 Trauma Center

Dutch Rojas and Dr. Anthony DiGiorgio sit down with one of the most respected physician leaders in America, Dr. Carlos Cárdenas, President of PHA and Co-Founder of DHR Health, the only physician-owned Level 1 trauma center in the country.

Dr. Cárdenas shares how a handful of doctors in South Texas built a full-service health system from the ground up — guided by one belief: if you take care of your community, your community will take care of you.

You’ll hear how DHR Health began as a day-surgery center in 1997 and grew into a 520-bed regional powerhouse, all while serving thousands of Medicaid and uninsured patients. He and Dutch discuss how physician-led models can revive rural healthcare, the barriers created by the federal moratorium on new physician-owned hospitals, and why putting patients — not profits — at the center must remain medicine’s true north.

Key Topics Covered:

• The founding story of DHR Health,  from a cigar and a napkin to a modern trauma center
• Why physician-owned hospitals deliver better outcomes and access
• How community partnerships keep rural hospitals alive
• The role of PHA in shaping federal healthcare reform
• Building sustainable, patient-first healthcare models across America

Quotable Lines:

“If you take care of your community, your community will take care of you.” – Dr. Carlos Cárdenas“We can fix healthcare one community, one hospital at a time.” – Dr. Carlos Cárdenas“The business is still the same — it all comes down to taking care of the patient.” – Dr. Carlos Cárdenas

Chapters / Time Stamps:

00:00  – Intro | The business is still the same: take care of the patient

01:00  – Meet Dr. Carlos Cárdenas (PHA President)

03:00  – The origin story: a napkin and a vision

05:00  – Building DHR Health: from 30 beds to 520

07:30  – Creating America’s only physician-owned Level 1 trauma center

09:00  – Why physicians should take back healthcare

12:00  – Partnering with rural communities to train the next generation

14:00  – PHA advocacy and the fight for physician ownership

17:00  – Serving the community that raised you

19:00  – Faith, risk, and the spirit of independence

20:00  – What’s next for PHA and the movement

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