It is impossible not to notice the expansive, stylish cocoa and cream structure with red awnings at the northwest corner of 87th Avenue and U.S. 1 in Wabasso. It is the newly expanded, 12,500-square-foot Quality Health Care and Wellness & Fitness Center of Drs. Deepti Sadhwani, MD, and Harish Sadhwani, MD, both board certified in Internal and Bariatric Medicine, with a practice in the Sebastian area for 17 years.
After months of construction on the north end, while the office remained open on the south, the 8,400-square-foot expansion opened just before Christmas. Chief Operations Officer Ed Riley said the astonishing growth of the practice – 7-8 new patients a day – informed the decision to triple the Center’s footprint. The medical staff currently includes two physicians and four nurses, with 19 employees in support positions.
Deepti Sadhwani is known for integrating conventional and holistic medicine, specializing in weight loss, inflammation control and disease management. She explains that her focus is on wellness and “aesthetic medicine,” while Harish Sadhwani specializes in traditional “functional medicine.” Education about “silent inflammation” and the consequences of excess body fat are key components in their practice.
Deepti Sadhwani noted that weight loss, which has become such a popular part of her practice, is a side-effect of her treatment approach, which focuses primarily on nutrition rather than medication, which often has unwanted side-effects. She explained that the Center accepts all insurance, and pointed out that, since last year, obesity is covered, under certain circumstances.
Sadhwani related how her transitional journey began, and why her practice now “fuses traditional medicine with ancient wisdom:” At 14, her son, who was overweight, developed debilitating ulcerative colitis. He was seeing several specialists and at one point was taking six different medications. Gravely concerned about the negative effect the combined medications could have, and convinced there must be a better way, Sadhwani began what turned into 15 years of intensive research, developing an understanding of the relationship between nutrition and metabolism, and coming to the conclusion that inflammation is the root cause of most diseases. Today her practice is mainly preventive, rather than reactive.
Harish Sadhwani was an orthopedic surgeon in India and considers himself “an old-style GP” who treats everything in-office, including minor surgical procedures such as skin cancer removal, integrating conventional medicine with the use of nutrition and proven supplements.
The practice treats ailments such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, obesity (including a weight-loss follow-up support system), depression, fatigue, stress, and kidney disease. Stress and cardiac testing are available as well. Recently added, with focus on the aging population, is treatment for overactive bladder issues.
Inside, the facility has more the feeling of a welcoming home than a doctor’s office, with soft lighting, comfortable furniture, oriental rugs and candles in the reception and waiting room. Walls are a calming dusty lavender. Each of the 15 treatment rooms are identified with either a “D” (Deepti) or an “H” (Harish) in addition to the number. There are two nurse/nurse practitioner stations, a well-appointed break room, and restrooms featuring marble tile walls. A large room lined with glass-front cases displays the snacks and supplements that have been specially formulated for the Center.
Within a few months, said Riley, the Sadhwanis plan to re-open the original office area on the south end of the building as an urgent care center.