Primary Care Doctors Join SMH’s First Physicians Group

Primary Care Doctors Join SMH’s First Physicians Group

Friday, September 25, 2020

SARASOTA, Fla. – Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is welcoming two new primary care physicians to the health system’s First Physicians Group (FPG) network and community: Nicholas Sakellarios, DO, and Bhavesh Shah, MD.

Board certified in internal medicine and fluent in four languages, Dr. Sakellarios will provide primary care for adult patients and disease management for a wide variety of conditions (including Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, diabetes and hypertension), as well as assistance with lifestyle changes, such as weight loss and smoking cessation. He joins FPG from New York, where he served as a partner physician at West Carver Medical and an emergency room physician with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. He received his medical degree from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2009 and completed his internal medicine residency at Stony Brook University in 2012. Dr. Sakellarios speaks English, Spanish, French and Greek fluently.

Board certified in family medicine, Dr. Shah will also provide primary care for adult patients. His practice focus includes treatment of asthma, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis and tendinitis, as well as providing patients with routine physicals, flu shots and other immunizations. Dr. Shah joins FPG from Chicago’s Northwestern Medicine, where he was a staff physician. Prior to that he was in private practice for more than 10 years and also served as medical director for Hospice. He earned his medical degree from University of Missouri’s Kansas City School of Medicine in 1997 and completed his residency in family medicine in 2000 at Northwestern-affiliated St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago. 

Both physicians are now accepting new patients at the FPG practice in Waldemere Medical Plaza (1921 Waldemere St., Sarasota). For information or appointment scheduling, call (941) 917-3500. 
 
About Sarasota Memorial’s First Physicians Group 
First Physicians Group is a network of primary and specialty care physicians employed by Sarasota Memorial Health Care System to help fill the gaps caused by a shortage of physicians in the region. Backed by the resources and reputation of Sarasota Memorial, the group of more than 250 primary and specialty care physicians and advanced practice providers have been carefully selected and recruited to provide the community with compassionate and comprehensive medical care. Specialties include: Bariatric Surgery; Cardiovascular/Thoracic Surgery; Orthopedic Trauma Surgery; General Surgery; Internal Medicine and Family Practice; Medical, Neurological and Surgical Hospitalists; Memory Disorders; Pediatrics; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Maternal-Fetal Medicine; Obstetrics/Gynecology; Gynecological and Gastrointestinal Oncology; Endocrinology; Dermatology; Gastroenterology; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery; Psychiatry; Palliative Care; and Urology.