Prominent health care leader finds his way to Sarasota

It took 13 months, but the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System has finally landed a long-sought after hire in bringing on Dr. Ralph Tufano, a widely recognized leader in the management of thyroid/parathyroid disease. 

“When we initially contacted Dr. Tufano, he was very interested in discussing the possibility of relocating to the Sarasota community,” says Joelle Hennesey, director of physician and advanced practice provider recruitment for First Physicians Group, in an email. “Dr. Tufano has personal connections to other physicians in the region so he already knew there was a deficit in thyroid and parathyroid surgeons, and that many patients in the community needed to travel more than an hour away from home to get necessary treatments.”