First Coast Cardiovascular Institute & Jacksonville Clinic: 2 Teams, 1 Mission

Healthcare is no longer just a one man show. It takes a team of experts to ensure all of your healthcare needs are met. With teams of highly trained experts, First Coast Cardiovascular Institute & Jacksonville Clinic work together to provide continuity of care in one place.

Dr. Yazan Khatib, co-founder of FCCI, recognized a shortage of primary care physician in Northeast Florida. “By 2020, there will be a shortage of 94,000 primary care physicians,” Dr. Khatib says, “Beyond just more primary care physicians; Northeast Florida was in need of a strong multi-specialty network of physicians where patients can receive comprehensive care.”

Dr. Khalil Afsh, Director of Jacksonville Clinic, shared this vision and was recruited to direct the Jacksonville Clinic initiative. He says medicine is heading in the direction of integrated care. Integrated medicine ensures the patient receives expedited and quality care.

Jacksonville Clinic and FCCI share an alignment. They are two divisions of the same company so they share the same resources to be able to provide patients quality care.

“I’ll often have a patient who I find is in need of a cardiologist,” Dr. Afsh says, “I know I can call any of the physicians at FCCI and the patient can be seen same-day if necessary. Our alignment truly expedites care. At times, expedited care ends up saving lives.”

We recognize patients have a million things to juggle. This is why we emphasize patient convenience. Specialists often have long wait times for appointment availability. Patients can go to the same office knowing they can receive comprehensive primary, cardiovascular, sleep medicine & pulmonology care.

“It’s about convenience, quality care and a multispecialty approach,” Dr. Afsh says.

Russel Snyder knows just how well this multispecialty approach works. He is a patient of both Dr. Khatib and Dr. Afsh.

“I began to have difficulty walking. One morning, I woke up and could not feel my left foot. Dr. Afsh diagnosed that there must be some sort of nerve issue or vascular issue. They found a 75% blockage in my left leg. He spoke with Dr. Khatib and he did a stent implant. After 2 days, I started walking and it was just miraculous.  It was night and day. It’s been phenomenal. Dr. Afsh did the right diagnosis and called for the right people to look at it. We found it, got it fixed and I am so grateful for that. They do such a good job and they really listen to their patients. Going there, you don’t get the normal cold shoulder from the doctor. The doctor’s ears are open and listening to what you say. I’ll continue to use them until I’m not here or they’re not here.”