When you join Southern Medical Group's cardiology practice, you step into a role that carries real weight. As the region's only comprehensive cardiovascular program, you will serve as a tertiary referral center for patients across a 90-mile radius. Communities throughout the Florida Panhandle, South Georgia, and beyond depend on this practice for advanced cardiac care. The physicians who left major academic centers and metropolitan practices to build their careers here did so because they wanted to matter, to see complex cases, to be known by name in their community. That opportunity now extends to you.
Southern Medical Group operates under a Professional Services Agreement with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, a structure that preserves the autonomy and entrepreneurial spirit of private practice while providing the stability and resources of a hospital partnership. You are not a hospital employee. You are a partner-track physician joining a group that has maintained its independence while building one of the most advanced community cardiovascular programs in the Southeast.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare functions as the safety-net hospital for Florida's Big Bend region, serving a population that has limited access to subspecialty care. The nearest comparable cardiovascular programs sit two hours away in Jacksonville, Gainesville, or Panama City. Patients who would otherwise face long drives or delayed care instead find advanced diagnostics, interventional procedures, and subspecialty expertise right here. The volume reflects that reality. This is not a practice where you wait for referrals to trickle in. The backlog is real, the need is genuine, and the clinical opportunities are immediate.
The Heart and Vascular Institute structure, chartered through the hospital board, integrates inpatient, outpatient, and ambulatory services under shared governance. This means you have a seat at the table when decisions are made about equipment, staffing, service lines, and growth. The physicians who built this program did so with intention, creating a governance model that protects clinical autonomy while fostering collaboration.
The practice is working toward a six-week rotation cycle: five weeks in the outpatient clinic and one week of inpatient hospital coverage. Currently, with staffing constraints from recent departures, the rotation runs closer to a 4:1 ratio. As the group recruits and stabilizes, the goal is to return to the 5:1 model that allows for sustainable work-life balance.
During your clinic weeks, you focus entirely on outpatient care. There are no inpatient responsibilities pulling you away from your scheduled patients. When you rotate to your hospital week, you handle inpatient rounds, new consults, and inpatient testing. The separation between clinic and hospital duties is clean and predictable.
You will report to the cardiology section leadership within Southern Medical Group and collaborate with the Heart and Vascular Institute administrative team. Dr. Greg Hartlage serves as Vice President of Southern Medical Group and provides physician leadership for the cardiovascular service line. Dustin Zaborkrtsy recently joined as Associate Vice President of the Heart and Vascular Institute, bringing operational expertise and a vision for building the program into a regional destination center.
The FSU College of Medicine affiliation, currently in development, will add academic opportunities including resident supervision and fellowship development. This partnership brings capital investment and academic recognition while the hospital's community board maintains operational control under a 40-year rolling lease agreement.
This is a practice where the clinical ceiling is high, the patient need is real, and the physicians who stay build careers that matter. The departures that created this opening also created opportunity, an opportunity to join a group that is rebuilding, investing, and positioning itself as the cardiovascular destination for North Florida.