Community Service Initiatives

Sarasota Memorial’s commitment to maintaining a healthy community is deep and diverse, evidenced by the many outreach programs and free and discounted medical services the hospital provides each year. Our goal: To offer programs that inspire and motivate people to minimize their risk factors and change unhealthy behaviors while removing any barriers to health care we encounter along the way. Some of the highlights of our outreach efforts include:

• North County Health Center
Sarasota Memorial’s North County Health Center is a not-for-profit primary care practice that provides high-quality care to all patients, whether they are insured, pay out-of-pocket or need financial assistance. Services include: Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Dentistry and Pharmacy. Specialist referrals also are provided. Patients are charged for services on a sliding fee scale, based on federal poverty guidelines and their ability to pay. No one is turned away because they cannot afford care.

• Corporate Volunteer Program
Made up of hundreds of hospital employees, Sarasota Memorial’s Corporate Volunteer Program places our employees where they’re needed when they’re needed – no job is too small or too large, whether it’s collecting school supplies and clothes for needy children; painting and repairing homes for the elderly and disabled; or cleaning up after a charity event for the underprivileged.

• School Health Program
Knowing it’s better to establish healthy habits while you’re young, Sarasota Memorial concentrates its efforts to prevent disease in our future leaders – by teaching the basics in elementary, middle and high schools. From teaching classes on good nutrition and hygiene to stress management, self esteem and sports safety, Sarasota Memorial offers a range of programs that promote healthier behaviors at all grade levels.

• Community Health Outreach Program
Sarasota Memorial offers an ongoing series of health education programs to at-risk neighborhoods throughout Sarasota County. Events are customized to address individual neighborhood’s most pressing health problems. Some of the services our health educators provide include: screenings, seminars and classes on disease prevention, nutrition, weight loss, women’s health issues, stress reduction, and managing heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.