Board-Certified Physician Joins Beaufort Memorial Palmetto Medical Group
October 16, 2022
To increase availability of primary care for residents south of the Broad River and beyond, Beaufort Memorial has added another physician to Beaufort Memorial Palmetto Medical Group.
Board certified in family medicine, Robert L. Smith, M.D., FAAFP brings a range of expertise in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses in pediatric and adult patients to the Bluffton primary care practice. He will begin seeing patients at the practice later this month.
Dr. Smith comes to the Lowcountry from Finger Lakes Family Care in Canandaigua, N.Y., a practice which he founded in 2006 in part to enhance patient care through the use of innovations in e-health. The Finger Lakes’ first medical home, the practice earned National Committee for Quality Assessment (NCQA) Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home status under his leadership.
Chief of outpatient medicine at FF Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua and co-founder of Updox, a medical communication platform, Dr. Smith is broadly experienced in the use of telemedicine, having greatly enhanced his patients’ access to care over the course of his career and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He counts among his clinical interests acute and urgent care, sports medicine, preventive care, diabetes management and office-based dermatology procedures.
Smith, a native of Rochester, N.Y., graduated with a Bachelor of Science in health and sports science from Wake Forest University. After a brief career as a PGA assistant golf professional in New York, Florida and Arizona, he returned to academics for a Master of Science in clinical chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Doctor of Medicine from the Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., remaining in Syracuse to complete a residency in family medicine at St. Joseph’s Health.
Dr. Smith credits the time he spent with team physicians and trainers during his undergraduate years as Wake Forest men’s basketball team student manager with sparking his interest in medicine.
“We heartily welcome Dr. Smith to our medical staff,” said Russell Baxley, president and chief executive officer at Beaufort Memorial. “He is not only a broadly experienced primary care physician, but also an effective advocate for innovative ways to expand patient access and enhance patient care.”
At Beaufort Memorial Palmetto Medical Group, Dr. Smith joins family medicine physicians Drs. Scott Cummings and Lynn Goetze, physician assistants Stephanie Lovato and Erica Roper and nurse practitioner Jennifer Stokes. The practice, located at 4818 Bluffton Parkway in Bluffton, offers a full range of general outpatient medical care, with an emphasis on wellness and on chronic disease management. Laboratory services are available on site.
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Smith or any of the practice providers, call 843-706-0600.
