In response to the growing population of Southern Utah, Desert Pain Specialists is expanding to Cedar City and adding a new physician to its staff of highly-qualified interventional pain care specialists. The Cedar City office, located at 1760 N. Main St. is set to open May 1, 2017.
Dr. Ryan Workman was raised in Salt Lake City and it was there that the Utah native met and started dating the woman who would become his wife. Together the couple now have eight children ranging in ages from 1-14.
Workman received his undergraduate education at Brigham Young University in Provo. After BYU, the couple moved to Arizona where Workman went to medical school. Workman and his family moved again after medical school to do a fellowship training at Dartmouth in New Hampshire. After completing his fellowship training, Workman and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they have lived and worked for the past few years.
But the family has always had their eyes looking northward toward Utah, Workman said, adding that they had a particular desire to settle in Southern Utah.
Workman will be mostly working from the new Cedar City office but will also spend time in St. George. He is excited, he said, to finally reach his goal of returning to Utah to live and work and to bring his wide variety of interventional pain treatment training to Desert Pain’s growing practice.
Workman has been trained in many different facets of interventional medicine including medication management, physical therapy, psychological treatment and stem cell research. He treats the spine, neck, middle- and lower-back, joints, extremity pain and pain syndromes that are difficult to treat.
He likes to use a broad approach to treating patients’ pain, Workman said, and believes what sets him apart is his dedication to spending quality time with the patient to really open communication and understand their needs.
“Pain is an emotional experience,” Workman said, “so having people talk with someone about that emotional component is very important.”
Workman will join Desert Pain Specialists’ staff, which currently consists of two physicians Dr. Court Empey and Dr. Spencer Wells and seven nurse practitioners.
Empey said he is thrilled to be able to add Workman to their team and looks forward to the opening of the new office in Cedar City. The new office will help Desert Pain Specialists better care for their patients who come not only from Cedar City but from areas such as Beaver and Richfield.
“We are excited to have a new location for them to be seen,” Empey said, “as well to bring in Dr. Workman and his expertise. He is an awesome guy, super sharp, very professional and has great training.
Wells said of Workman, “He’s very qualified, well-trained and overall he’s just a nice guy. He is somebody who will sit and listen to the patients and do his best to understand their needs and I think he will fit very well in our practice model.”
Workman and his family enjoy an active lifestyle, he said, and they look forward to exploring the many options for camping, hiking and outdoor play that Southern Utah has to offer.
