El Paso Children’s Hospital has added a new member to its team: pediatric orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist Dr. Estephan Garcia, who has more than 14 years of experience in the field.

Garcia’s addition means more than a new provider for El Paso Children’s Hospital. It also means the El Paso region has gained a physician who specializes in hip preservation. Garcia is the only physician currently offering this specialty in the region.

“There’s nobody for about 500 miles that does that surgery,” Garcia said. “Hip preservation is the lead into taking care of hip problems before somebody has completely worn out their hip and needs replacement. That usually starts in the teen years and then all the way into late 30s, early 40s. It’s a combination of doing things like hip arthroscopy to repair labral tissue to decrease impingement, all the way to what’s called a periacetabular osteotomy, which basically means somebody’s hip is shallow and needs surgery to help reorient their acetabulum or their hip socket, so they have better hip coverage.”

Garcia’s interest in the medical field began at a young age after serving in the U.S. Army as a medic and enrolling in the United States Military Academy in New York.

“I was a chemistry major, and I got exposed to other individuals that were applying for medical school,” he said. “I started to look into that and decided that would be a good path for me and was able to apply to medical school. The Army sent me to the University of Colorado for medical school. I finished there and matched into orthopedic surgery here in El Paso and did my residency at the combined Texas Tech William Beaumont military civilian program.”

Garcia also gained experience during his orthopedic sports medicine fellowship at the U.S. Military Academy and the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and pursued a fellowship in pediatric orthopedics from Shriner’s Hospitals for Children in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Although Garcia grew up in Colorado, he’s been in the Sun City for 18 years, making him deeply familiar with the community. As a former college athlete, he also understands the passion and dedication of the young athletes he treats.

“When I went to the military academy, I got to be on the wrestling team, and I wrestled in college,” he said. “I get to take care of athletes and talk to them about sports, so it really satisfies my personal and professional desires. There are some specific hip problems that cross over into the pediatric orthopedic world, and early in my career, I was sending those patients to other people in other cities because there was nobody in El Paso that took care of those patients. I decided that I wanted a little bit of extra training and did my pediatrics fellowship. Now, I take care of those patients, I don’t send them away.”

Garcia said that because athletes place the most stress on their hips, they should participate in more than one sport, reducing the strain caused by the same continuous movements that may stress the hip.

“Having good all-around physical development is really important,” he said. “El Paso is notorious for kids playing one sport year-round. Whether that’s my soccer players or my baseball players or my gymnasts. They do one thing over and over again year-round, and that really exposes them to risk of injury. I’m trying to convince coaches and parents that if they let their kids play other sports, they’ll better develop their bodies athletically and they’ll be at lower risk for injury. Actually, the evidence shows us that their athletic careers will be longer.”

While athletes tend to put the greatest strain on their hips, Garcia said everyone should recognize that exercise can play an important role in preventing hip surgery.

“You don’t have to be an athlete, but you should still think of fitness and exercise as part of your health. I encourage even my kids that love computers and video games to get outside, get into the gym, do some light weightlifting so they can keep their bodies healthy, because keeping your body strong will protect your hips.”

Garcia is not only a new member of the hospital, but he is also bringing a team of orthopedic surgeons with him, expanding care for the community.

“I couldn’t have picked a better job,” he said. “I have two wonderful partners, Marcella Woiczik and John Heflin, that I’ve known for years, and I got them to come down and join me here in El Paso. So, we have a great group of really smart, competent orthopedic surgeons. They’re both excited to help El Paso Children’s grow a specialty line.”

With this team of orthopedic surgeons, Garcia looks forward to the impact this expansion will have.

“I want to make sure that everybody knows that we have the resources available here at Children’s Hospital,” he said. “We provide some specialties that haven’t been available for years and years, and now, most of the things that any kids present with, we can take care of. We’re building a sports medicine program to help improve the relationship between the local middle schools and high schools so that we can get better access to care for our young athletes. Long term, I’d love to see El Paso be a hub for regional referrals. We have a big catchment area and sometimes those kids have to travel long distances, and I think El Paso should be the location where they come from or where they come to.”

From sports injuries and hip preservation to revision surgeries and pediatric trauma, Garcia sees patients not just as cases, but as kids, students and athletes eager to return to the activities they love.

“I really truly care,” he said. “I want my patients to do well. I want them to get back to doing the things that they want to do. I think sometimes parents of athletes are afraid to take their kids to the doctor because they don’t want them to be kept out of their sport. I was an athlete, I still kind of think of myself as an athlete, and my goal is to get them back on the field as soon as possible, and as safely as possible so they can get back to the sport they love.”