Sarasota Memorial opens Sleep Disorder Center

The Sarasota Memorial Sleep Disorder Center has opened at Waldemere Medical Plaza. A physician referral is required for sleep studies and treatments.

At the center, a multidisciplinary team provides evaluations, overnight sleep studies and individualized treatment plans for a range of conditions. Among them are obstructive and central sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disorders, insomnia, narcolepsy and hypersomnia, snoring and restless leg syndrome.

Specially trained, registered sleep technologists perform overnight sleep studies in private, “hotel-like sleep suites” in the center, which is equipped with the latest technology, according to a statement. At 1921 Waldemere Street, Suite 705, the Sarasota Memorial Sleep Disorder Center is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

The center can also use technology for remote monitoring at the patient’s home to record breathing patterns, oxygen levels, brain waves, heart rhythm and leg movements during sleep.

Following sleep studies, board-certified sleep medicine physicians meet with patients to discuss the results and potential treatment options.

“Sleep is fundamental to overall health," says Dr. Rabih Loutfi, the Sleep Disorder Center’s medical director. Loutfi is a board-certified pulmonologist, critical care and sleep medicine physician with SMH First Physicians Group. 

“When sleep is repeatedly disrupted by conditions such as sleep apnea," Loutfi says, "it can trigger a cascade of effects that negatively impacts immune function, increases the risk of chronic disease and impairs cognitive abilities such as memory and concentration.”

Sarasota Memorial has operated or supported a diagnostic sleep center since 1992, according to Sarasota Memorial Health Care System spokesperson Kim Savage. Initially, it was housed in an outpatient clinic in an aging building on the hospital campus along Osprey Avenue that was demolished in 2021 to make way for the Cornell Behavioral Health Pavilion, Savage says.

Upon the closure of the outpatient clinic, most patients were transitioned to Lung Associates of Sarasota, which operated a sleep lab in Waldemere Medical Plaza’s Suite 705, or to other sleep specialists, according to Savage.

“In 2024, Lung Associates joined SMH First Physicians Group, and SMH continued to support the sleep lab as part of that merger,” Savage says in an email. “In 2025, SMH made the decision to expand the sleep center team and its capacity.”

Sarasota Memorial hired three additional staff members to support the center, which provides comprehensive diagnostics and overnight sleep studies seven nights a week, Savage says.

“Helping people manage sleep disorders has been a longstanding service provided by SMH,” Savage says. “Untreated sleep disorders, particularly sleep apnea, are linked to serious health issues, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Insufficient sleep can also impair our body’s immune system and cognitive function.”