Surgeon turned entrepreneur builds 25 longevity clinics called Next Health

Picture a doctor's office with zero parking headaches, no grumpy receptionists, and absolutely no outdated magazines. Dr. Darshan Shah, a board-certified surgeon and former Mayo Clinic trainee, decided to fix everything patients despise about traditional medicine. He started Next Health in 2016 with a single West Hollywood location in California, aiming to cure the universal fear and annoyance of going to the clinic. Today, the longevity franchise boasts more than 25 locations around the world, offering advanced health testing, hormone optimization, IV therapy, and red-light therapy. Dr. Shah entered medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City at 15 and graduated as a physician at 21. After spending 12 to 14 hours a day in surgery, his own body broke down. He became 50 pounds overweight, diabetic, hypertensive, and was taking 10 different prescription medications before developing an autoimmune disease. Realizing traditional medicine focused solely on disease management rather than true health, He dove into functional medicine and healed himself. He even got patients so healthy they canceled their surgeries. Now, Next Health visits last 45 minutes to an hour per patient. If you want the ultimate checkup, the company's Executive Physical costs $14,500. But if you want a more standard entry point, memberships start at $99 a month, which Dr. Shah notes can often be covered through a health savings account. That is cheaper than your weekly takeout bill, though maybe less delicious. Next Health plans to keep driving down costs to make preventative longevity care accessible to everyone as it scales up its brick-and-mortar footprint.