CHRISTUS Welcomes East Texas Native as Newest Orthopedic Surgeon in Longview
8/30/2023
“My sister is an OB/GYN in Waco, my brother is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in Corpus Christi, and my sister is the head volleyball coach in Hallsville. That’s not to mention my father being a longtime coach at Pine Tree and Kilgore, my mom taught at Pine Tree for 30-plus years, and my wife was the 2010 state champion in the hurdles at Spring Hill.”
The 2009 graduate of White Oak High School is now the newest orthopedic surgeon with CHRISTUS Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute in Longview, returning to the same hospital system where he was born.
“I was actually born at Good Shepherd right here in Longview,” he said. “This was always the place that I identified with, that the 903 was the place I was always going to come back to.”
After completing his undergraduate studies at Abilene Christian University, Wait attended medical school in San Antonio, where he also completed his residency in orthopedic surgery.
Nine years in San Antonio landed him a fellowship in Colorado, where he would work with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies, and the NFL’s Denver Broncos.
“I really got to see how sports medicine was done at the highest levels and really rounded out my orthopedics education,” he said. “I really got to experience how high-level patients were being cared for and got to see the process of medical care at professional leagues, which was incredibly enlightening.”
Wait says the level of precision care he experienced with the professional teams is what his goal is for patients here in East Texas.
He also emphasized his desire to come back to the Longview area, noting that it’s not often in health care that a provider can come back to their hometown.
“East Texas produces some amazing talent, and the unfortunate reality, in all fields, is that some of that just does not come back,” he said. “I was so blessed to have the education I did, to learn from some of the best practicing orthopedic surgeons, and to be able to bring that back here, where people deserve the same world-class medical experience as anywhere else.”
And when not seeing patients: “I cannot wait to see the Lobos play, I’m a White Oak kid, but I have always been a Lobos fan, and to be on the sidelines with them, I am looking forward to it.”
Dr. Wait is currently accepting new patients and is officed at the CHRISTUS Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute at 3133 Good Shepherd Way in Longview.