Mesa View Hospital Welcomes Two Experienced Providers

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

In the last few months, the Mesa View Regional Hospital in Mesquite has brought on two new medical providers to its local healthcare team. These include Dr. Rita Seck, a board certified family practice physician, and Dr. Soon Kim, a board certified general surgeon. Both women are new to the Mesquite community.

Dr. Seck hails originally from Michigan. She was born in Detroit. She reports that she became interested in a medical career at an early age because of a family ordeal.

“I had a brother who had leukemia when he was a kid,” Seck said. “I saw his treatment and the struggle that it entailed. It was very serious and he almost died. It was then that I decided that I’d like to go into medicine.”

Originally her interest was to become a specialist in oncology, helping treat patients with cancer, like her brother. But over her training, that gradually broadened with a goal to help a wider scope of patients. She became a family practice physician.

Seck received her medical degree from Michigan State University and served an internship in East Lansing, MI.

She went on to practice more than 30 years in Michigan in a variety of roles. These included family practice physicians taking office visits; and also as a hospitalist, working in smaller hospitals devoting time to the care of patients there.

Eventually Seck decided she needed a change of pace from Michigan. “I got tired of the cold in Michigan,” she said. “I was looking for someplace a little more sunny and warm.”
She found it in Gainesville, Florida. She has spent the past five years working as a hospitalist in a large hospital in the Gainsville area.

Eventually the break-neck pace of a city hospital began taking its toll. “I wanted to come back to a small hospital in a more intimate setting with patients where there was not so much stress,” Seck said.

Another factor was proximity to family, Seck said. Seck and her husband have three children who are spread around the globe. Their oldest son works as a psychiatrist in St. George, UT. That is where two of Seck’s three grandchildren also reside. So Mesquite seemed like a great place to relocate.

“Mesquite made perfect sense to be near our grandkids,” Seck said. “And the small-town atmosphere is like a breath of fresh air.”

Seck says that she enjoys caring for patients of all ages, from newborn onward, with an emphasis in Women’s Health. Her practice philosophy is to treat patients as she would her own family.

Dr. Kim also traces her interest in a medical career back to her early childhood.
She was born in South Korea and grew up in an orphanage there until she was about five years old.
Illness was a frequent visit to the orphanage and many children fell sick often. Kim said that some of her earliest memories were of people who came to the orphanage to help sick children become well. These doctors made an impression on her long before she knew what the job was even called.

“I didn’t know the right words I was so small,” Kim said. “I thought that they were scientists and that is what I called them. But I remember thinking that this is what I wanted to be; to help people get well again.”

Kim’s life changed when she was adopted by an American family serving in the U.S. Air Force. After her adoption, the family travelled around the world with the Air Force for a few years. Eventually they returned to the United States and Kim began her early education.

Kim earned her medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. She completed her surgical residency at the University of Texas at Galveston.

Kim has had experience with a range of surgical procedures including colonoscopy. certain gastrointestinal cases, gallbladder, appendectomy, hernia repair and endoscopic surgery.

The state of Nevada is not new to her. Kim spent nine years practicing medicine in Winnemuca, Nevada. She then spent a couple of years in Gardnerville, NV. In 2014, she made a move to the oil industry town of Hobbs, New Mexico, near the border with Texas. But she said that she always liked Nevada better and wanted to come back. She said that she loves the beauty and peace of the wide open spaces of the state.
“We were looking to get back to Nevada so we could come back home,” she said. “Mesquite beckoned to us.”

Kim said that she looks forward to getting to know the community through her work.
“In my career, I usually live at the hospital,” Kim said. “So I get to know the community through that work of helping people get well.”

Both Seck and Kim welcome patients of all ages. Appointments can be made by calling the Mesa View Medical Group in Mesquite at 702-346-0800.