Quality and Safety at
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System

Speak Up for Safety

Providing safe patient care is Sarasota Memorial’s No. 1 priority. If you have questions or concerns, or something doesn’t “seem right” with your care - or care of a loved one – please let us know as soon as possible.

Our "Speak Up for Safety Program" follows safety guidelines recommended by the Joint Commission and is designed to promote prompt reporting of safety concerns so we can address them as quickly as possible. Here's the best way to report any safety concerns:

1. First, speak with your nurse or health care provider to see if he or she can help address your concerns.

2. If you need additional help with a patient safety issue in the hospital, share your concern with one of the nursing floor’s supervisors – the charge nurse, clinical manager or director. If you are in one of our outpatient facilities, ask to speak to the site or program supervisor.

3. If a supervisor is not immediately available to address your concern, you may page a manager by calling the hospital operator at (941) 917-9000 and asking for “Code Speak Up.” If you are in the hospital, simply call the hospital operator by pressing “0” on any hospital phone (or 941-917-9000 from an outside telephone) and share the program key words “Code Speak Up.” You should receive a prompt call back from a supervisor. In a medical emergency at the hospital, please summon the closest caregiver for immediate help. Or, if you are outside the hospital, call 911.

In a medical emergency at the hospital, please summon the closest caregiver for immediate help.

Filing a Complaint

We want to improve patient care by giving patients and their families a way to communicate complaints. We want to make sure that they are solved quickly.

If you wish to send a written complaint/grievance, please address it to:

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
Attention:  Risk Manager
1700 South Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL  34239

If you have a complaint against any hospital or ambulatory surgical center in Florida, call the Consumer Assistance Unit at 1-888-419-3456 (press 1) or write to this address:

Agency for Health Care Administration
Consumer Assistance Unit
2727 Mahan Drive, Building 1
Tallahassee, Florida 32308

If you have a complaint against a health care professional and want to receive a complaint form, call the Consumer Services Unit at 1-888-419-3456 (press 2) or write to this address:

Agency for Health Care Administration
Consumer Assistance Unit
P.O. Box 14000
Tallahassee, Florida 32317-4000

Patients or family members can also contact the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ Office of Quality Monitoring to report any concerns:

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
Office of Quality Monitoring
1-800-994-6610
complaint@jcaho.org

Patient Bill of Rights