Specialty Clinic Provider of the Month: Dr. David Cancelada

CHCS provides an array of specialty clinics in several of our locations each month. Dr. David Cancelada, general surgeon, is our April Specialty Clinic Provider of the Month. Dr. Cancelada serves CHCS patients well because of his range of experience as a 25-year military veteran and specialized training in trauma surgery, tissue repair, and bariatric surgery to assist in weight loss. He is also known for a caring and calming presence that his patients appreciate.

Dr. Cancelada recently took time to answer a few questions. Read on to learn more about his work.

What is your area of specialty and/or what services do you offer?

I am a general surgeon. I do mostly abdominal surgeries to include hernias (tissue repair), gallbladder surgery, appendectomies, surgery for gastro-esophageal reflux, sleeve gastrectomy for weight loss, colon resection for cancer and diverticular disease. Also removal of skin cancers, soft tissue tumors, breast biopsies and breast surgery for cancer. In addition, I do emergency and trauma surgery one weekend a month at Stormont Vail Medical Center, which is the only Level II trauma center outside of Kansas City and Wichita.

Editor’s note: Dr. Cancelada is one of the few surgeons in the Midwest who does Shouldice hernia repair. This technique uses no mesh; instead, the surgeon repairs the muscle tear using the patient’s own tissue or muscle layers with internal sutures. Read a patient story about hernia repair.

Why did you choose your specialty, and what do you like most about it?

I like the ability to help people by doing procedures that restore function or remove disease. It’s very satisfying to see results almost immediately. Of course, there is risk to surgery so a surgeon has to have a certain resiliency to carry the burden of complications that can occur with any surgeon and with any operation.

What kind of extra training did your specialty require?

It included training in trauma surgery, wartime surgery (I am a 25-year veteran of the Army), burns (I was assigned to the US Army Burn Unit in San Antonio, Texas, for 2 years), critical care (I am board-certified in surgical critical care) and bariatric training.

What are the most common problems for patients in your area of specialty and/or what kinds of patients are you able to help?

Gastrointestinal disorders are by far the most common conditions that affect the patients I see, which range from gallbladder disease, acute appendicitis, colon cancer, esophageal reflux, and morbid obesity.

How can patients improve their health in your area of specialty?

I would say it’s the same as with any physician: stop smoking, exercise, eat healthy, maintain a normal weight, don’t over-drink, and wear seatbelts.

What do you like about seeing patients at Community HealthCare System?
I love my patients and the medical/nursing staff at CHCS that I work with daily because they have the humbleness and honesty of people who live in reality and surrounded by nature. The rural environment often reminds me of the military environment on deployments where you simply “get it done” and take care of each other.

View the Specialty Clinic calendar.