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Growing Sano Specialty Care
Expanding to five locations, the practice now includes more than 50 providers.
By Kari Williams
Photos by Brooke Buck
Sano Specialty Care is more than a private medical practice. It’s an organization with a mission to transform health care.
“That vision has really fueled Sano, has served as our compass, our true north,” says Joe Whetstone, the practice’s chief integration officer.
Dr. Matt Daggett, a Center High School alumnus, founded Sano—then-named Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine—in October 2016. Whetstone was the first employee of the practice and has served in multiple roles since. Over the past decade, the practice has grown to an all-encompassing medical operation with more than 50 providers and five locations across the Kansas City metro, including Overland Park.
Sano now specializes in orthopedics, vascular & vein surgery, spine and pain management, sports medicine, bariatric surgery, general surgery, and joint replacement.
A Plan for Growth
Whetstone, who moved to Kansas City in 2013 and is a former Oak Park High School athletic trainer, says the plan all along has been to expand the practice, but there were “a lot of naysayers” early on.
“We say there’s gravity to what we’re doing now,” he says.
The first clinic opened in Lee’s Summit at the Lee’s Summit Medical Center, and the second was at St. Luke’s in Overland Park. In 2020, they moved the Lee’s Summit site to a state-of-the-art facility. One month later, the COVID-19 pandemic made its way stateside.
“After a few months of uncertainty, we just skyrocketed out of that period,” Whetstone says. “It was encouraging, and, really, the only reason we were able to do it was because of the team. We all knew we were in it together. We definitely, I think, culturally came out stronger after that period.”
Following the initial pandemic-related shutdowns, Sano was set up as a “point of care outside traditional hospital emergency rooms,” says Whetstone. One of their added service lines was a walk-in clinic for stand-alone orthopedic needs. More providers, administrative staff, and support staff joined the practice around that time as well.
What does ‘sano’ mean? Sano is a Latin word that means “to heal, cure, restore, repair, correct, or make sound.” Sano Specialty Care derives its name from the Latin word, sánus, meaning healthy, wholesome, and intact.
Patient Experience and the Community
As part of his role as chief integration officer, Whetstone focuses on integrating new providers, service lines, and technologies as well as working across departments. Sano focuses on the patient experience, which Whetstone views as the “nucleus of healthcare.” And that experience, he says, starts when a patient (or potential patient) sees the Sano brand, makes an appointment, and is evaluated and diagnosed.
“We relentlessly hone in on that entire spectrum of the experience. … We have representation from across the entire organization, all of the departments, (both) clinical and nonclinical, [who] are able to have a say in how we guide that patient experience,” he says.
They are also engaged with the community, holding events like an annual blood drive with the American Red Cross, and many more. Their goal is to be proactive rather than reactive, offering programs in prevention and wellness. Regarding the practice’s next steps, Whetstone says they regularly explore new opportunities, including technological innovation.
Whetstone credits the team with the success of Sano. “We have an amazing group of people who believe in what we’re doing.”
From a marketing perspective, word of mouth has been crucial to Sano’s success.
“We’re not just trying to be another business with brick and mortar,” Whetstone says. “We want to be actively engaged and partnered with our communities, plural, so having a presence out there, knowing that our approach is a little bit different … we don’t just want to be another name. We want to be the name out there. And it’s been great to be engaged in the Leawood and Overland Park communities.”
Where can you find Sano Specialty Care?
Lee’s Summit: 2861 Northeast Independence Ave., Suite 201
Overland Park: 11340 Nall Ave., Suite 200A
Parkville: 6301 North Lucerne Ave., Kansas City, MO 64151
Paola: 505 South Hospital Drive
Raymore: 121 North Dean Ave., Suite 101
The Evolution of Sano Specialty Care
2016 Dr. Matt Daggett, with Joe Whetstone, opens Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Lee’s Summit.
2017 Two more physicians, Dr. Kevin Witte and Dr. Tim Roberts, join the team, along with support staff.
2018 Sano expands into Kansas and opens a clinic at St. Luke’s in Overland Park.
2019 The practice rebrands as Sano Orthopedics, adding spine surgeon Dr. Stephanie de Vere.
2020 The practice moves out of the Lee’s Summit Medical Center and moves into its own state-of- art facility, also in Lee’s Summit.
2021 Two additional surgeons, Dr. Matt Cullen and Dr. Alex Palmer, join the practice in the summer. In November, Mid-America Orthopedics of Kansas City joins the team, doubling the doubling the practice. New physicians include Dr. Mike Dempewolf, Dr. Chris Eckland and Dr. Jeff Colyer. The same year, they move out of St. Luke’s and into MAO’s Leawood facility.
2022 The team grows with additional advanced practice providers and support staff.
2023 The practice adds more physicians and becomes multi-specialty, adding vascular surgeon Dr. Richard Coats in October and other physicians through the year. The pain management specialty begins. Then, they move out of the Leawood location and into the Overland Park location, which has a physical therapy rehab component and an ambulatory surgery center.
2024 Sano adds more physicians, adding general surgery, bariatric surgery, trauma care, and wound care to the practice.
