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.

• … has earned Magnet Nursing Services Recognition, the nation’s highest honor for excellence in nursing. 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 meet criteria indicating superiority in all aspects of nursing services. Sarasota Memorial was re-designated in December, 2008, after a rigorous application process that included detailed documentation and an on-site visit by Magnet surveyors, who looked at all facets of care, including patient outcomes, nurses’ participation in decision-making, education/career development and management philosophy and practices. Independently sponsored research projects suggest that Magnet facilities have positive outcomes for patients, nurses and workplaces. The hospital is currently the only provider in the region with the designation.

• … was recognized by Forbes.com in 2008 and 2009 as one of “America's Safest Hospitals.”

• …was the highest-rated hospital in the Tampa Bay area and among the top hospitals in the nation according to a Consumers' Checkbook survey reported in AARP The Magazine. Just 125 hospitals made the list. Consumers' Checkbook, a nonprofit research organization, surveyed doctors for hospital recommendations and rated nearly all acute-care hospitals in the United States based on death rates, complication rates, patient recommendations and other measures. The hospital's scores in each of the listed survey categories surpassed national averages.

• … was selected by nurses across Florida as one of the top hospitals in the state, earning the hospital a spot on ADVANCE for Nurses magazine’s Reader's Choice Honor Roll two years in a row.

• … was listed among Nursing Professionals magazine’s “Top 100 Hospitals to Work For in 2009.”

• …was named a Consumer Choice Award winner for the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice metropolitan area by the National Research Corporation (NRC) for the 12th consecutive year for 2009-2010. The award identifies hospitals that health care consumers have chosen as having the highest quality and image ratings in more than 300 markets throughout the nation.

• … is one of only 16 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.

• …  received 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. Accreditation by the CoC is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed to provide the best in diagnosis and treatment of cancer and to undergo a rigorous evaluation process and onsite review of its performance every three years. Sarasota Memorial’s cancer program has been accredited since 1988. It is the only CoC-accredited hospital program in Sarasota, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

• … is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehab Facilities (CARF) for its Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Specialty Stroke programs. CARF accreditation is voluntary and is awarded only to those rehabilitation programs able to meet the commission’s standards of excellence of patient care. Organizations must be re-accredited every three years.

• … has a Mobile Intensive Care Unit, a specially equipped ambulance designed to respond on-demand to critically ill adult patients who live in outlying communities.

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

• … depends on its hundreds of volunteers, who donated more than a hundred thousand hours of devoted service to the organization. The hospital’s Auxiliary has selflessly contributed millions of dollars through the years to hospital programs.

• …  has been designated by the state of Florida as a site for a Memory Disorder Clinic sponsored by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs.

• …  has a Corporate Volunteer program made up of staff members who donate more than a thousand hours annually to the community as well as hundreds of items to Mothers Helping Mothers.