Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, an 806-bed regional medical center, is the second-largest acute care public hospital in Florida . With about 3,000 staff members and more than 1,000 volunteers, it is Sarasota County's second-largest employer. A community hospital, Sarasota Memorial is governed by the nine-member elected Sarasota County Public Hospital Board. It is a full-service facility, with specialized expertise in heart, vascular, cancer, neuroscience services, outpatient services, home health and long-term care among its many programs. Sarasota Memorial is the only provider of obstetrical services and Level III neonatal intensive care in Sarasota County. The hospital, founded in 1925, was one of the first non-academic hospitals in the nation to develop a clinical research service that conducts studies in Lung Disease, Cardiology, Vascular Surgery, Geriatric Medicine and many other specialty areas.

For the sixth consecutive year, Sarasota Memorial Hospital is listed in U.S.News & World Report’s 2009 publication of America’s Best Hospitals. It remains the only hospital in Southwest Florida consistently named among the nation's top hospitals. Authoritative and influential, the 2009 America’s Best Hospitals guide spotlights just 3 percent of more than 5,000 hospitals surveyed across the nation and ranks the top 50 in 16 different specialties. This year, Sarasota Memorial ranks #37 (up from #43 last year and #48 the year before) in geriatric care – a highly specialized, multi-disciplinary program dedicated to treating the complex conditions of aging and preserving the quality of life of the nation's fast-growing elderly population. In previous years, the hospital also has been recognized among the best in heart care & heart surgery, cancer care, orthopedics, gynecology, urology, respiratory, and ear, nose & throat care.

• … Since 2003, Sarasota Memorial has been designated a Magnet hospital, the nation’s
highest honor for excellence in nursing. SMHCS is among a handful of health care organizations with this distinction. Given by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center, the premier authority on nursing, Magnet recognition means that Sarasota Memorial provides a supportive environment that attracts and retains the best and brightest caregivers. To be recognized as a Magnet hospital, applicants must pass a rigorous review and meet criteria indicating superiority in all aspects of nursing services. The hospital is currently the only provider in the region with the designation.

• … was recognized by Forbes.com among 10 of the largest safe hospitals in America. Forbes tapped HealthGrades, an independent health care rating agency, to provide quality data on the nation’s safest hospitals, then spotlighted Sarasota Memorial in a 2008 online report of “America’s Safest Hospitals.”

• … was selected by Florida nurses as one of the top three hospitals in the state in 2007 & 2008. ADVANCE for Nurses news magazine asked nurses to rate hospitals in five categories: quality of care, organizational culture, professional development, communication and retention efforts. Sarasota Memorial scored top honors in all five categories, earning it a spot on the Reader’s Choice Honor Roll.

• … was named one of the Solucient 100 top cardiovascular hospitals in the United States in 2007 for the fifth year in a row.

 

•  was recognized as a 2006 CareScience™ Select Practice National Quality Leader. This exclusive status is given only to the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide that demonstrate a combination of superior clinical outcomes and exceptional efficiency in patient care. Sarasota Memorial also was recognized in three disease specific areas, pneumonia, medically managed acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) and ischemic stroke.

• … was named a 2008/2009 Consumer Choice Award winner for the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice metropolitan area by the National Research Corporation (NRC) for the 11th consecutive year.

• … is one of only a few hospitals in Florida to be state-certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. The designation demonstrates that our stroke care program follows standards and guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients.

• … streamlined triage services to ensure that all emergency patients will see a physician or physician assistant no more than 30 minutes after registering. Since 2005, after Sarasota Memorial instituted “patient flow” improvements and eliminated overcrowding, the hospital has had zero ambulance diversions.

• … received the Microsoft Healthcare Users Group (MS-HUG) Hospital of the Year Award for 2004. The hospital earned the honor for its computerized order entry initiative.

• … was named one of “ Florida’s Top Hospitals” in the March, 2006 issue of Florida Monthly magazine.

• … received a full three-year accreditation for its Cancer Care Services from the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer. Only one in four hospitals that treat cancer receive this special approval.

• …ensures Sarasota Memorial residents receive consistent, top-notch primary care with its physician partnership, First Physicians Group of Sarasota.

• … is grateful for the generosity of the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation Inc., which has provided tens of millions of dollars in grants since 1976.

• … depends on its hundreds of volunteers. The hospital’s Auxiliary also has selflessly contributed millions of dollars through the years to hospital programs.