Giving Patients a Second Chance - A Spotlight on Duval County Medical Society members Dr. Ricardo Hanel and Dr. Eric Sauvageau

Sep 19, 2026

Giving Patients a Second Chance spotlights Dr. Ricardo Hanel and Dr. Eric Sauvageau, neurosurgeons and directors of the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville. The piece explains how endovascular and open-surgery approaches give stroke and aneurysm patients renewed opportunities for recovery and family life. It details each doctor’s motivations, training pathways, and their belief in minimally invasive evolution, while also describing the demanding on-call schedule and community leadership through the Duval County Medical Society.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Giving Patients a Second Chance

College Football: Top 25 Traditions

Retirement Plans Can Be Simple

Al Fresco Dining

Medical Humor

Phillip Bain: Impatience Fuels Visions

Things to Know When Buying Headphones

Recommended Medical Reading

Property Showcase

Caring for Custom Dress Shirts and Suits

Wine Talk

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Contents
2 Giving Patients a Second Chance
4 College Football: Top 25 Traditions
9 Retirement Plans Can Be Simple
10 Al Fresco Dining
11 Medical Humor
12 Phillip Bain: Impatience Fuels Visions
14 Things to Know When Buying Headphones
16 Recommended Medical Reading
19 Property Showcase
20 Caring for Custom Dress Shirts and Suits
22 Wine Talk | | --- | | | |
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[or visit www.creativedevelopmentworks.com](or visit www.creativedevelopmentworks.com) | | --- | | | Neurovascular surgeons Ricardo Hanel, MD, PhD, left, and Eric Sauvageau, MD, directors of the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville. Giving Patients a Second Chance: A Spotlight on Duval County Medical Society members Dr. Ricardo Hanel and Dr. Eric Sauvageau “The more you are given in life, the more you have to give.” Dr. Ricardo Hanel lives by this philosophy every day, especially at work. He is a neurosurgeon who treats patients suffering from stroke or brain aneurysms, along with other ailments. Seeing a patient at such a critical moment is both challenging and rewarding. For Dr. Hanel and his colleague, Dr. Eric Sauvageau, they also have the added experience of giving some patients another chance at life. “Just the fact that it can give people a second opportunity to get back to life and get back to their families,” Dr. Hanel said.“Many of them will come back and tell us, ‘thanks for saving my life.’ I just think that it’s a gift.” Drs. Hanel and Sauvageau are the Directors ofthe Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville. Dr. Sauvageau has been practicing medicine since 1998 and Dr. Hanel since 1996. Dr. Sauvageau said he was inspired to go into medicine when he was a young boy, after an anesthesiologist he played tennis with brought him to a hospital. Dr. Hanel said he wanted to be a physician due to medical ailments affecting his family. “I lost my grandpa when I was 11 years old and my mother had cancer when I was 15,” Dr. Hanel said.“I was very grateful to the people you took care of them. I think that’s what inspired me to bea physician, to follow those who took care of my family.”The doctors have treated many patients throughout their medical careers and some of them left lasting impressions. Dr. Sauvageau recalled a particularly memorable experience operating on a drummer for a music group. “After the surgery and all that, he sent me a video of him playing drums and being back in his band,” Dr. Sauvageau said.“We know that we help people, but just seeing him back in life, seeing him doing what he does, it makes me feel extremely grateful to do what we do and how we have the chance to help people; to sometimes give them a second chance.” The two physicians work in Lyerly Neurosurgery at Baptist Health, and are the doctors who helped to bring endovascular neurosurgery to Jacksonville. The field continues to evolve. “A lot of time in the past to treat, for example, a brain aneurysm, people would have to have their skull cracked open for us to operate,” Dr. Sauvageau said.“We still need to do that in some cir- cumstances, but everything is becoming minimally invasive. So for brain aneurysm, for stroke, there’s now a ton of things we can do. We can go all the way through the groin, and navigate small, little wires all the way to the brain to fix things in the brain. So that has been a dramatic change.” Both doctors are certified to treat patients with endovascular neurosurgery or invasive, cracking-the-skull-open neurosurgery. The doctors also trained to become certified in endovascular neurosurgery.“We offer two sides of the same coin,” Dr. Hanel said. “And that’s what makes us different, is

FAQs

Who are featured in the “Giving Patients a Second Chance” article?

The article spotlights Dr. Ricardo Hanel and Dr. Eric Sauvageau, neurovascular surgeons and directors of the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville.

What medical specialty and procedures does the article describe?

It discusses treatment of stroke and brain aneurysms using both endovascular neurosurgery (minimally invasive) and open, skull-cracking approaches when circumstances require it.

Why do Hanel and Sauvageau encourage others to join the Duval County Medical Society?

They describe DCMS as a family and community that connects physicians, supports patient-centered efforts, and allows broader collaboration across the medical community.

Sep 19, 2026

Upload by Ethan Miller