For nearly 20 years, Dr. Lawrence Sanchez has served patients in a variety of ways and in a variety of places. Now, he’s serving Brown County.
Sanchez finished his residency in Wisconsin in 2001 and treated patients there until 2018, when he moved to Franklin to be closer to Indiana family and friends. That was not his only goal in coming to the Hoosier state, though.
“When I came to Indiana, I was looking for a place that would allow me to do the type of medicine I do,” Sanchez said. “The thought was always in my mind, ‘Maybe I should open my own practice, in a small town.’”
Living in Morgantown and practicing in Franklin, Sanchez decided to open Blue Elk Family Clinic in Nashville.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“Some people (in Brown County) gave me the feel that a new doctor would be welcome,” Sanchez said.
Dr. Tim Alward retired in 2012 and Dr. John Alessi closed his practice in 2019, leaving one hospital-affiliated doctor’s office and one membership-based clinic to serve the county.
The opportunity seemed right for Sanchez. He found an open space in the same building as Dr. Junken’s dentistry office and Brown County Eye Care, exactly where Alward had practiced for 41 years.
Blue Elk opened on May 4.
Like Alward’s clinic did, Dr. Sanchez works with patients by charging them a flat rate, whether they have insurance or not.
“It was an idea that I saw work in Wisconsin,” he said. “A doctor up there was tired of dealing with insurances. I thought it was something that could work.”
Sanchez didn’t know that Alward had operated the same way until he moved into the building.
“It’s nice because the community is used to that system. It’s nice to see that it’s not a new concept to the community,” he said. “I won’t necessarily have to explain it.”
Sanchez was able to chat with Alward, and said he gave him hope and inspiration that this will be a good fit.
“I won’t have to worry about going somewhere else at this point,” Sanchez said.
A variety of work has led him here, doing temporary work in corrections, home evaluations, permanent clinics, nursing home clinics and more. “Taking all of that knowledge and being able to use it in one place,” he said, “everything I’ve gathered over the last 20 years, I’ve got the background, so let’s get to work.”
Blue Elk is a family practice, with Sanchez seeing patients of all ages.
Treatments that his patients have said he does well are anxiety, depression and other behavioral disorders.
He uses GeneSight, which is a genetic testing for guiding treatment of a patient’s behavioral health conditions. A cheek swab can help identify problems a patient may have so they may be better treated, he said.
In addition to this form of treatment, Sanchez also said that “patients feel comfortable to talk.”
Listening to patients’ concerns and health issues is one of Sanchez’ main goals. It even influenced the very name of the clinic.
He has Apache heritage, and when he was brainstorming a name for the clinic, he was looking for Native American meanings of different animals. He came across the story of the Blue Elk. A mute boy is spiritually linked to an elk from the day of the boy’s birth, and the two are companions until the elk is killed. A cedar tree grows around its antlers, and from that wood, the young man makes a flute, which he plays to woo his true love.
“The elk is still his voice when he doesn’t have one,” Sanchez said.
This is what he aims to do as a healthcare provider.
“A lot of the time, patients don’t feel like they have a say in what their (health) decisions are, and they want to be heard.
“I’m the kind of person who listens to someone and what is going on with them. I’m not going to push you to do something you don’t want to do.”
Sanchez said the patient base is starting to grow at Blue Elk, despite the COVID-19 pandemic “scaring everyone away from doctors.”
Never having been a big city person, he’s excited to be in Nashville.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know people and working with them in the community to help achieve their health goals,” he said.
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Where: 50 E. Willow St., Suite C, Nashville
Make an appointment: Visit provider.kareo.com/dr-larry-sanchez or call 812-200-8265.
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