Operating in its expansive 22,283-square-foot facility on Fair Road for the past 18 months, Best of the Boro voters selected Optim Orthopedics as Best Orthopedic Practice for 2024. 

And, in a tribute to the impact he made on his patients and the community, Scott Sanders was selected Best Physician Assistant. Sanders died unexpectedly in July.

Sanders played football and baseball at Montgomery County High School and, as an athlete, he enjoyed helping athletes recover from injuries, Sanders’ wife Tara Sanders said.

“Because of his athletic background, I think that is what initially led him to orthopedics,” she said. “He enjoyed working with high school athletes and with Georgia Southern athletes, but also every day athletes who were runners, tennis players, bike riders with injuries.”

Sanders said one of the reasons her late husband loved orthopedics was “a lot of times something he did for that person to help them see a positive outcome in the course of their treatment became evident in a short period of time. There was that kind of gratification of being able to see somebody get better.”

And that gratification extended to all his patients, she said.

“The athletic aspect of his work was a great love of his, but he just enjoyed getting to know all his patients and helping them with different treatments and medicine.”

Sanders’ passing also has left a void with his colleagues and patients at Optim.

“They not only had a good working relationship, but he had a friendship with many of the people that he worked with,” she said. “He loved what he did. He loved helping people and getting to know people. He always would say he was lucky to do something that he loved.”

Along with the orthopedic care and physical therapy, Optim Orthopedics provides for hundreds of patients out of their Statesboro offices. The practice is also official partners with area athletic organizations including Tormenta FC and Georgia Southern. The new facility has allowed the same physicians that Statesboro has come to know and trust a greater opportunity to serve the community.