Difference Maker: Dr. Clifford Talbert treated the community’s hearts with a ‘forward looking’ mentality

Cardiologist Clifford R. Talbert Jr. has treated hearts in the region for 57 years, with much of his time spent at Saint Francis Medical Center.

The longtime cardiologist, who introduced many heart procedures to the region, retired on June 30 following a distinguished career. Along with his work at Southeast Hospital and Saint Francis Medical Center, Talbert helped develop cardiac clinics for hospitals in Perryville and Sikeston, Missouri, and Murphysboro, Illinois. He founded Cardiovascular Consultants Medical Group.

Talbert stressed the importance of never becoming “static” in his field. This, he noted, could make all the difference for patients.

“But beyond [just taking a pill], let’s see what’s causing that pain,” he said. “And that would be a blocked artery in the heart in most cases. And so that’s the difference. And it’s not just in this field.

“I think that’s the way any field progresses. If you do what everybody else has done for the last 10, 15 years, in whatever field you’re in, you’re probably not moving forward much. To just roll the same old system out for the patient, whether you’re talking about business or scientific field, for example, you want to be able to learn to do things better. And that’s the American spirit,” he said.

Talbert said he was the first physician in his family and wasn’t pushed to pursue it as an occupation. His interest in science was what led him to pursue medicine at the University of Missouri.

He said when he started in cardiology the practice was very “small.” At first, Talbert noted, many people weren’t interested in going into the field.

“When I was in training, the field of cardiology was very small and did very little. And nobody [was] much interested in it, but they were just beginning to do heart operations on birth defects in hearts when I was in training, internship, residency and so forth.”

Talbert said when he got started there were only a few things they could do for patients. That certainly changed over the course of his tenure.

With all the work he put into Southeast Missouri’s medical community, the Talberts also contributed to other parts of the Cape Girardeau community. He and his late wife Bettie Talbert were champions of Southeast Missouri State University, having been members of the President’s Council and longtime supporters of the university’s arts programs. In 2018, Southeast recognized the Talberts with the Friends of the University award.

The Talberts were also involved in local business. They were behind the now closed Plaza Galleria ice skating rink for many years. Talbert said they believed in supporting the local community, and Bettie played a key role in that particular development.

“We did that whole project [the Galleria] for nearly 20 years, and then she [Bettie Talbert] retired from that and we sold the building. It was razed and Walmart bought the building and replaced it with the supermarket. But we enjoyed that.”

When talking about his accomplishments, Talbert didn’t forget to acknowledge the people who helped him along the way. He said he couldn’t have done it without the help from the nurses and his staff.

“My success is owed greatly to all the personnel at the hospital, the staff at the hospital, administrations, as well as the nursing staff,” Talbert said. “They all jumped in and came along and we ended up with a good system that worked well for survival of the patients, and I’m very grateful to all those people.”