Cancer Center welcomes two new doctors

Two new doctors took two very different paths to Sioux City as they joined the June E. Nylen Cancer Center staff this fall.
The first new addition, Dr. Charles Murphy, a radiation oncologist, was raised in the small town of Clermont in eastern Iowa. He attended school at the University of Northern Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa School of Medicine, where he also did his residency in radiation oncology.
During medical school, a call from his mother would change his life. A mammogram turned up a cancerous tumor in her breast, and she was to undergo treatment hours from home. Little did he know that the event would lead him to his calling in life.
“That was the time I decided I was going to take care of cancer patients,” says Murphy, who before that wasn’t sure what sort of medicine he would practice. “That was the event in my life that made me know that taking care of cancer patients was what I was here to do.”
Murphy chose Sioux City because he was impressed with the community, its support of the cancer center, and the technology it employs.
“What’s available at this cancer center is beyond what I experienced at other places I looked. They also have a commitment in the community to the cancer center and what we do,” Murphy said. “So it was a really good fit overall.”
Murphy said he is excited about working with longtime radiologist Dr. Gregory Naden, and about helping patients close to their home, an option his mother didn’t have.
Just down the hall, Dr. Kamalesh Bala, an oncologist, found himself side by side with Murphy as new doctors at the cancer center.

But his path to western Iowa was a much different one. The young Indian-born Bala came via New York City, where he did a 5-year residency after attending medical school in India.
Bala was searching for a job outside the eastern seaboard, and wanted to leave the city for the Midwest or the Southwest. That’s when he came across the opening at June E. Nylen.
“I was really impressed when I came to the cancer center. How well established it was, how respected it is in the community,” Bala said. “I really liked the doctors in the group, and the staff is really friendly. I felt very comfortable even on the day of my interview.”
While their paths to Sioux City were very different, their conclusion was the same when they arrived: Sioux City is a great place to work, and the cancer center is one of the finest facilities each of them had seen outside of large metro areas.
“It’s small enough, which is what I was looking for,” said Bala of Sioux City. “I wanted a place that was a little more laid back, with open spaces and fresh air. It has all of that, and everything else you could want.”