Washington, DC—Today, U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) is announcing Dr. Ricky Cigarroa as his Hometown Hero virtual guest to President Biden’s State of the Union Address to Congress on Tuesday. Dr. Cigarroa has dedicated his career to serving the Laredo community, but most recently pivoted from his cardiology focus to serving COVID-19 positive patients during the pandemic. Known as the Dr. Fauci of South Texas, Dr. Cigarroa helped treat thousands of patients with his calm demeanor by making house calls and offering words of advice to the wider community on pandemic best practices.

The State of the Union Address will highlight the achievements and work still to be done under the leadership of President Biden. While safety protocols mean this year’s in-person attendance will be limited, Cuellar said inviting Dr. Cigarroa as his virtual guest is an important way to honor the people of Texas-28 and uplift their stories.

“Our country has made tremendous strides this past year thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure Law. However, we could not have succeeded without the help of our hometown heroes. For this year’s State of the Union Address I wanted to highlight one of the millions of hardworking Americans whose perseverance in the face of adversity fueled our nation’s historic recovery. People like Dr. Cigarroa, are the true heroes behind America’s progress over the past year. I am proud to uplift him as my virtual guest to the State of the Union Address,” said Congressman Cuellar.

“Thank you to Congressman Cuellar for this honor. I am humbled by the gesture and will continue to serve our community as we recover from the pandemic,” said Dr. Ricky Cigarroa. 

A picture and biography of Dr. Cigarroa are attached.

A Family of Service Above Self

Ricardo G. Cigarroa, M.D. has spent his medical career wearing many hats: Interventional Cardiologist, Internist, Chief of Staff and Department Chair— just to name a few. And while his patients call him ‘doctor’ and ‘Dr. Ricky’, the Coronavirus Pandemic earned Dr. Cigarroa a few more endearing monikers — ‘lifesaver’ and ‘angel’ among the many that have come from the thousands of Covid patients he’s cared for since the pandemic hit Laredo.

One of ten children born to the late Dr. Joaquin Cigarroa and Barbara Cigarroa, Dr. Ricardo Cigarroa was raised in a family that at an incredibly young age learned and accepted their family’s legacy of serving. Before his death in 2019, the beloved and highly respected Dr. Joaquin cared for his patients up until the final days of his life, showing his children to embrace the blessings given to you by caring for those who need you till the day you are called up by the Lord. Without a doubt, Dr. Cigarroa has stepped into that role, mixing empathy and compassion in his medical practice that serves patients without boundaries or limits if it means one additional life can be saved.

“When the pandemic hit Laredo, I saw how Covid patients were being treated,” Dr. Cigarroa explained. “Little of the virus was known at the time, so patients were being ostracized, treated as if they had leprosy, and told to stay away. I thought of my Dad and knew that had he still been alive—despite the tremendous fear of the virus—he would go their homes.”

Even before the Pandemic hit Laredo, Dr. Cigarroa was already highly respected and regarded in his field of Interventional Cardiologist. A graduate of Princeton University, he received his Doctor of Medicine at Harvard University with extensive training in Internal Medicine, General Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology. He returned home in 1990, bringing his skills in the relatively new specialty of Interventional Cardiology to the Laredo community.

“Interventional Cardiology began as a medical discipline after the introduction of coronary balloon angioplasty in 1976,” explained Dr. Cigarroa. “So by the time I opened my clinic in 1990, it had only been recognized as a field of specialized medicine for 14 years.”

In that short period of time, Interventional Cardiology was making huge strides in saving lives across the country. Dr. Cigarroa and two of his brothers, Carlos and Joaquin, embraced the new field, perfecting and mastering their skills of performing catheter-based treatments for heart disease—the leading cause of death among Hispanic adults.

Working alongside his father, Dr. Cigarroa used specialized imaging and other diagnostic tools and techniques to evaluate blood flow and pressure in the coronary arteries and chambers of the heart, then performed highly technical procedures to treat the abnormalities and blockages found in his patients that impaired blood flow to their heart. If left untreated, heart attack and even death could follow.

During the 32 years following the opening of his practice, Dr. Cigarroa took on many causes, specifically those he saw as inequities affecting Hispanic communities and citizens living along the border. Often he would remark that the border was the bastard child of Texas.

“We couldn’t sit back and allow our Hispanic children to be treated like second-hand citizens—especially when it came to higher education and healthcare,” Dr. Cigarroa said. “As residents of the border, it appalled me that money and resources were being directed to other parts of the state, and we needed to use our voice to correct these inequities so that our children could receive the same opportunities as those living in more affluent parts of Texas.”

Along with fighting for parity, Dr. Cigarroa was also passionate in communicating truths in the science of medicine. In the early months of the pandemic, Dr. Cigarroa took a hard stand disseminating the facts about Covid—even warning our city leaders and community members about the dangers of the highly contagious and fatal disease. Furthermore, when Covid vaccines were finally approved for use, he used national platforms to fight for equity and access of the highly sought-after vaccines after witnessing extreme deficiencies in their distribution to cities along the border.

All the while, Dr. Cigarroa never stopped caring for Covid patients. In March of 2020 when Covid first hit Laredo, he shut down his busy Cardiology practice and turned to caring for Covid patients full time in his clinic, and by making house calls at their homes.

“While I understand why many of my colleagues in the medical field turned to caring for patients through telemedicine, without hearing a patient’s lungs and heartbeat, I could not practice effective medicine this way.” he said. “So I protected myself as much as I could with PPE and cared for those individuals who needed medical help the most. In many cases, these individuals were healthcare workers who contracted the virus themselves while taking care of Covid patients. As a physician, we took an oath to care for the ill, and during the pandemic it meant going to their homes.”

Dr. Cigarroa has been blessed with the return of his children to Laredo after completing their educational goals. He describes his son, Ricardo II, and his daughter, Alyssa, as his pride and joy as both have continued the family’s legacy of service above self.

“I am so proud of both my children,” said Dr. Cigarroa. “My son Ricky and nephew Joaquin just joined the Cigarroa Clinic as Interventional Cardiologists with amazing skills and proficiency in the specialty, while my daughter Alyssa has shown her passion for public service on City Council working hard to give her constituents a better life. If my father were alive today, he would be so proud of them. Service, honesty and constancy of purpose define my children.”

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