About EliteCare Surgical Specialists in Rockville, MD
Board-certified, minimally invasive, and robotic surgeons specializing in hernia repair, abdominal wall reconstruction, body contouring, and advanced wound care. Founded in 2024. Serving Rockville, Montgomery County, and the greater DC area.
A Message from Dr. Zahiri
I founded EliteCare Surgical Specialists out of necessity.
For years, I practiced inside health systems where non-clinical obstacles kept interfering with patient care. Scheduling bottlenecks, bureaucratic delays, billing confusion, communication failures. None of these had anything to do with the quality of surgery, but every one of them affected the experience my patients had and, in some cases, the outcomes they received. When I realized the system was not going to fix itself, I made the decision to step away and build a practice that would.
EliteCare opened in September 2024 with a commitment to provide surgical care at the highest level, and to take the patient experience just as seriously as the clinical outcome. Because the reality is, a patient’s experience does not begin or end with the surgeon. In practice, that means:
These should be standard in healthcare. Too often, they are not. At EliteCare, they are the baseline.
Every person on our team was selected because they share this priority. From how quickly a call is answered, to the availability of appointments, to how we coordinate your surgical care, every detail here is designed with purpose. And we are not finished building. We continuously evaluate and refine our processes to improve access, efficiency, and quality, because I believe excellence in healthcare is not a destination. It is a standard you pursue every day.
I am proud of our team and the care we provide to every patient. We welcome you to EliteCare Surgical Specialists.
H. Reza Zahiri, D.O., F.A.C.S.
Founder and CEO, EliteCare Surgical Specialists
Education and Training
Dr. Zahiri earned his Doctor of Osteopathy from Midwestern University and a Master of Biomedical Sciences from the same institution, following undergraduate work in microbiology at Arizona State University.
He completed his general surgery residency and served as chief resident at the University of Maryland, where he also held a research fellowship in the Divisions of Plastic and Pediatric Surgery. He then spent two years in research and clinical fellowships in minimally invasive surgery at Anne Arundel Medical Center, training under Adrian E. Park, M.D., F.A.C.S., one of the country’s foremost authorities on minimally invasive hernia and GI surgery.
That fellowship is where the technical mastery, judgment, and approach to innovation that define his practice today were refined. Not all fellowship experiences are equal. His was grounded in a high-volume, academically driven program that pushed beyond procedural proficiency and into a different way of thinking about complex surgical problems: how to read CT imaging and build a full reconstruction plan before making a single incision, how to determine when a robotic approach will serve a patient better than laparoscopic or open, and how to take on cases other surgeons turn away.
That foundation has stayed with him as the field has evolved. Dr. Zahiri now operates on the Intuitive da Vinci Xi robotic platform at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD, bringing minimally invasive and robotic surgical capabilities to procedures that, until recently, required large open incisions. He continues to adopt advances in imaging, robotics, and recovery protocols as the evidence supports them.
Academic and Leadership Appointments
Before founding EliteCare, Dr. Zahiri spent nearly a decade in academic medicine and surgical leadership. He served as Chief of Surgery at Doctors Community Medical Center (Luminis Health) and held faculty appointments at three programs simultaneously: Associate Professor of Surgery at The George Washington University School of Medicine, Core Faculty at both the Anne Arundel General Surgery Residency and the Advanced Minimally Invasive GI and Hernia Surgery Fellowship (Luminis Health), and Faculty at the Howard University General Surgery Residency Program. He also served as Associate Program Director of the Anne Arundel MIS/Hernia fellowship and directed the Simulation to Advance Innovation and Learning (SAIL) Center.
That background is part of what sets EliteCare apart. Dr. Zahiri has not just performed these procedures thousands of times. He has trained other surgeons to perform them, studied what produces the best long-term outcomes, and published the results.
How We Practice
What sets EliteCare apart is not any single capability. It is how the clinical team, the technology, and the recovery protocols all work together around each patient.
Dr. Zahiri has built those relationships deliberately. He works in close partnership with the surgical staff, nursing teams, and anesthesiologists at Suburban Hospital so that every phase of care, from the pre-operative workup through the last follow-up visit, is coordinated. No handoffs between providers who have never spoken to each other. No gaps in communication between the surgeon and the team managing your recovery.
Every surgical plan is patient-specific. Dr. Zahiri reviews imaging, evaluates the anatomy and any prior surgical history, and determines the best approach before the day of surgery. After the procedure, recovery follows a clear path: milestones at each stage, scheduled follow-ups, and direct access to the team if something comes up.
Where We Operate
Our office is located in Rockville, where consultations, pre-operative visits, and follow-up appointments take place. Surgeries are performed at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, a Johns Hopkins Medicine member hospital with an established robotic surgery program. We also operate at local Ambulatory Surgery Centers in Rockville and Chevy Chase.
The hospital and ambulatory surgery center relationships matter more than they might appear on the surface. Dr. Zahiri has worked with the surgical staff, nursing teams, and anesthesiologists at these facilities for years, and he has chosen to operate there specifically because of the standards those teams hold themselves to. The operating rooms are equipped with the Intuitive da Vinci Xi robotic platform. The recovery teams are familiar with our Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols. The anesthesia teams use the same multimodal, opioid-sparing approach we use across every case.
For patients, that translates to a coordinated experience from start to finish. The team that cares for you on the day of surgery knows what we do, how we do it, and what to expect from your recovery. There are no handoffs to providers who have never spoken to your surgeon, and no gaps between the surgical plan and the people executing it.
Our Outcomes
Our Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols are a major reason behind these numbers. We use a multimodal pain control approach that avoids opioids when possible. Patients manage pain with acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and an abdominal binder for support rather than narcotics. That often results in less nausea, less grogginess, and a smoother, faster recovery, getting you home the same day rather than spending days in a hospital bed.
When Specialized Training Makes the Difference
One case that stays with Dr. Zahiri involved a young man who came from out of state after a hernia repair at another practice. The original surgeon had used an older “plug and patch” technique. Over time, the mesh migrated into his abdominal cavity and trapped a nerve. He was in constant pain. He could not work his job as a mechanic. He could not play soccer.
Dr. Zahiri put together a surgical plan around the specifics of what had gone wrong and performed a robotic-assisted procedure to remove the migrated mesh. That kind of revision requires careful dissection through scar tissue and close attention to the surrounding structures. It is not a procedure most surgeons are trained to do.
The patient’s pain resolved. He returned to work and back to the soccer field.
Every surgery carries some degree of risk, and not every case resolves this clearly. But this is the kind of outcome that becomes possible when a practice is built around specialized training and the willingness to take on what others cannot. If you have been told your situation is too complex, or if a previous repair did not hold, we welcome the opportunity to evaluate your case and give you an honest assessment of what we can do.