As part of its commitment to connecting the Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast communities to world-class care, Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is launching a concierge primary healthcare practice on Florida’s east coast. Dr. Laurie P. Rothman is the first doctor to join TGH Concierge Health.
Rothman is a concierge primary care physician, board-certified in family medicine and in obesity medicine. She has two decades of experience delivering world-class care to patients in Palm Beach County and has been practicing medicine for nearly 25 years. For an annual fee, her patients will receive the highest level of primary care, including personalized plans, along with after-hours and weekend access to the concierge medical team.
“I love what I do. I love taking care of patients and families, and the time I spend with people, and the relationships we build, are most important to me. This practice will allow me to have more time with my patients, and to be there for them when they need me,” Rothman said.
Other benefits of TGH Concierge Health include same-day or next-day appointments, after-hours communication with the concierge physician or staff, annual executive-level physical examinations, coordination of specialty or hospital care, more one-on-one time with the doctor, and telephone consultations or video visits. “If someone isn’t feeling well, they don’t want to wait for the next available appointment,” Rothman said. “In addition to more time, my patients will also have increased access. If there is an emergency or they are sick, and it’s 9 o’clock at night, they can call me or text me and we’ll be able to talk it through and make a plan.”
A former attending physician in the emergency department at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J., Rothman can also provide her patients with emergency room advocacy. Most recently, she served as the dedicated doctor for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Rothman is also a member of the Florida Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Board of Obesity Medicine.
“I’m very excited to join the Tampa General network and help start this concierge practice,” Rothman said. “I’ve known Dr. Abraham Schwarzberg with the TGH Cancer Institute for more than a decade, and we have collaborated to help care for many patients over the years.”
Rothman’s clinical focus is on preventative care, wellness, and metabolic health for adults and adolescents ages 12 and up. She is proactive, analytical and wholeheartedly committed to providing comprehensive, compassionate and evidence-based patient care. Rothman also prides herself on her strong collaborative and leadership skills.
“Dr. Rothman blends a brilliant mind with a compassionate spirit,” said Schwarzberg, executive vice president of network development, chief of oncology, and vice president of clinical and translational Research at Tampa General. “She is a dedicated, patient-centered physician who becomes connected to her patients and cares about the best decision-making for them, both medically and within the context of their home and family lives.”
For more than two years, Tampa General Hospital has been creating a framework of state-of-the-art services for patients in the Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast areas, with the expertise and innovation of a preeminent academic medical center. The Florida East Coast Initiative began with an alliance with the Cancer Center of South Florida and then the Gastro Group of the Palm Beaches.
Since the alliances began, Tampa General has continued to grow its services for the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast communities. Recently, the TGH Gastro Group of the Palm Beaches recruited Dr. Sonja K. Olsen, a board-certified internist, gastroenterologist and transplant hepatologist from NYU Langone Health in New York City. The TGH Cancer Institute in Palm Beach County also includes West Palm Beach-based Dr. Robert Scoma, a thoracic surgical oncologist, and Dr. Jason Hechtman, a breast cancer surgeon. Tampa General has also established TGH General Surgeons of the Palm Beaches with renowned West Palm Beach robotic surgery specialists Dr. Daniel R. Higgins and Dr. Itzhak Shasha, along with TGH Advanced Kidney Care and TGH Imaging.
Tampa General is one of the highest-ranked hospitals in Florida by U.S. News & World Report, the primary teaching affiliate of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and one of the largest hospitals in the nation. Patients who need a higher level of care have a direct connection to Tampa General’s academic medicine and resources, including research breakthroughs, a wider variety of clinical trials and options for advanced immunotherapy procedures, enhanced personal treatment plans, and a convenient path to complex surgeries. Patients who receive more complex procedures or treatment at Tampa General will be able to follow up with their local physician on the east coast upon returning home.
Those interested in learning more and/or becoming a TGH Concierge Health patient should call (561) 559-0955.
