I am a board certified Family Medicine and Weight Management doctor. I love God and care deeply for people. I consider the opportunity to serve people through health care and other avenues an absolute blessing that I am extremely grateful for each and every day. I value the patient-doctor relationship, patient autonomy, patient education, preventative medicine, and broad-scope and comprehensive primary care service.

I grew up in a loving blue-collar family in Ohio prior to moving to Florida. I learned the importance of family and community from my mother and father, who served people through the airline industry and law enforcement, respectively. I had the opportunity to play baseball at the collegiate level and pursue higher education thanks to generous donors of various athletic and merit-based academic scholarships. I am married to the woman of my dreams with whom I have developed a full family of 3 biological sons and 2 furry dog children. Our house is wide open and we love it that way!

My family and I moved to Southwest Virginia several years ago for my wife (Mrs. Dr. Guerra) to complete her Dermatology residency. We have fallen in love with the beauty of this part of the country, which is displayed most by the hearts of the wonderful people of the region. We now consider this region our home base where we live, work, play, and participate in the community through our local church, recreation center, and athletics and arts events. We intend to serve this region to the best of our ability in as many ways as possible.

You may know there is a significant shortage of primary care physicians in our country. This shortage is becoming larger as the population grows and large percentages of graduating medical students elect to pursue non-primary care specialties. Sea and Sun Health was born from my desire to offer individuals, couples, and families in the New River Valley and surrounding area access to an authentic patient-doctor relationship that translates into personalized, judgement-free, and thorough primary care at an affordable and transparent price.

Have you noticed that the current system of using health insurance for payment of primary care services comes with some serious downsides? For example, you may spend as little as 5 to 10 minutes with your primary care doctor after waiting weeks to months for an appointment. Or you may still owe significant amounts of money for primary care services even after paying your insurance premium and using your insurance for payment. Or you may still be confused about what out of pocket costs you may have even after spending a ton of time reading about your health insurance coverage and trying to speak with your doctor or your health insurance company about the matter.

What is the problem? A major issue is that primary care doctors who bill insurance for their services have high administrative costs associated with collecting payment from insurances. Some estimates suggest that such primary care doctors spend 40 cents of every dollar they collect on this administrative burden. Translation- in order to keep up with the costs of dealing with and collecting payment from insurance, keep their lights on, and continue to provide their services to their communities, they must see a large number of patients each day to make ends meet. Essentially, primary care becomes industrialized and the patient becomes a means for collecting payment from a third party payer. This industrialization of health care has contributed to continuously increasing health care costs in primary care and beyond.

What is the solution? Doctors take an oath - “Primum non nocere” - “First, do no harm.” I believe this oath applies to your finances as much as it applies to your physical, mental, and social wellness. Some primary care doctors, myself included, are electing to provide a solution called direct primary care. In the direct primary care model, health insurance is not billed for primary care services, which greatly reduces the administrative and financial cost to the direct primary care practice. In turn, direct primary care doctors pass these savings to their patients in the form of an affordable, monthly membership fee in exchange for an accessible primary care experience. Direct primary care often saves patients trips to urgent cares and emergency departments by offering same and/or next day visits for sick and injury visits. Direct primary care allows primary care doctors to spend 30 to 60 minutes or more with their patients so that patients can appropriately address their needs. Beyond that, direct primary care allows doctors time to seek the best prices for other services their patients may need. For example, Sea and Sun Health has arranged discounted lab, medication, and imaging prices for patients. You may have read the benefits of direct primary care on this website. If not, please feel free to click here to learn more.

Does this mean that health insurance is not necessary? Not at all. Health insurance is very important for unpredictable health events such as health emergencies, hospitalizations, surgeries as well as other services that cannot be provided by a primary care physician- much in the same way that other forms of insurance like home or auto insurance serve their purpose in the event of a home fire or an auto accident. However, primary care preventative care is predictable. Moreover, many chronic diseases, mild to moderate illnesses and injuries, and mental health concerns can be thoroughly addressed in the practice of a well-trained primary care doctor.

I encourage you to establish and maintain a strong patient-doctor relationship with a trusted and caring primary care physician with the heart of a teacher who can guide you and meet you wherever and whenever is best for your individual needs as you walk your personal health and wellness journey.

I encourage you to establish and maintain affordable health insurance coverage that meets your personal needs.

I encourage you to try to make each day count.

If you would like to learn more about this practice specifically, please feel free to contact Sea and Sun Health to schedule a free consultation.

Whether you decide to make Sea and Sun Health your primary care medical home or not, I wish you all the best as you strive to live a life of health and wellness!

Sincerely,

Dr. G