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Sarasota Campus at DuskLocal Focus, National Acclaim

Sarasota Memorial strives to provide the highest-quality healthcare and best patient experience in the nation. Here are a few of the many accomplishments that recognize our commitment to exceptional care.

Awards & Honors

  • Highest 5-Star rating from Medicare for quality and safety
    • Sarasota Memorial is the only hospital in Florida to have consistently earned the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid's highest 5-star rating for overall quality and safety since the rating system launched in 2016. 
    • The Sarasota Memorial Nursing and Rehabilitation Center also has 5-Star ratings from CMS.

  • Straight "A's" for Patient Safety
    • Sarasota Memorial Hospital has received consecutive “A” grades for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group — a national organization that evaluates hospitals' efforts to protect patients from preventable injuries and harm — since SMH began participating in Leapfrog's survey in 2016.

  • Listed among U.S. News' 50 Best Hospitals for Rehabilitation Services and Obstetrics/Gynecology Care, 2023 - 2024.
    • U.S. News' "Best Hospitals" report also spotlighted SMH as a "high performer" in the specialty of:
      • Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Surgery
      • Geriatrics
      • Neurology and Neurosurgery
      • Orthopedics
      • Urology
    • SMH also earned “high performer" for the following procedures and conditions:
      • Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair (AAA)
      • Aortic Valve Surgery
      • Colon Cancer Surgery
      • Heart Attack
      • Heart Bypass Surgery
      • Heart Failure
      • Hip Replacement
      • Knee Replacement
      • Leukemia, Lymphoma & Myeloma
      • Lung Cancer Surgery
      • Prostate Cancer Surgery
      • Stroke
      • Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

  • SMH's Nursing and Rehabilitation Center also was named on the nation's top nursing homes in the U.S. News' 2022-2023 "Best Nursing Homes" study. 
     
  • One of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals, 40 Top Teaching Hospitals and 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals
    • In the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals rankings, Sarasota Memorial Hospital outperformed thousands of hospitals across the nation on all clinical and operational benchmarks. This is the sixth year that SMH has been recognized as a Top 100 Hospital by Fortune/Merative (formerly Watson Health). It also has ranked repeatedly among the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals. The latest study also ranked SMH-Sarasota among the top five teaching hospitals in Florida and Top 40 in the U.S.

  • Named among the World’s Best Hospitals by Newsweek,  2023
    • Sarasota Memorial Hospital was once again named one of the World's Best Hospitals in the 2023 global ranking of hospitals compiled by Newsweek magazine, in collaboration with global market research and consumer data company Statista Inc. SMH is the only hospital in southwest Florida ever to make the list, which spotlighted more than 2,300 medical institutions across 28 countries.

  • Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award
    • Sarasota Memorial Hospital was one of only 41 organizations worldwide recognized as an Exceptional Workplace by Gallup in 2022. It was the third time that Sarasota Memorial won the prestigious award, which honors thriving organizations that have attained world-class performance by making employee engagement a cornerstone of their strategy.

  • Forbes' Best-in-State Employers
    • Sarasota Memorial Health Care System was named among the 2023 Best-in-State employers, ranking #4 overall and #1 among all healthcare employers in Florida.

  • Forbes' Best Employers for Women
    • Sarasota Memorial was named among the 2021 Best Employers for Women in the US by Forbes, a designation given to less than 1% of large companies nationwide. SMH ranked in the top 12% of 300 multinational companies and in the top 10% in the “Healthcare & Social” category.

  • Designated as a Baby-Friendly Hospital in 2017 and successfully re-designated in 2023. SMH-Sarasota was the first, and remains the only hospital in southwest Florida to earn the designation from Baby-Friendly USA Inc. The organization is part of a global initiative by World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund to promote mother-baby bonding, successful breastfeeding and best practices in maternity care.

  • Level III Maternal Care Verification from the Joint Commission, in collaboration with the American College of Obstetrics in 2023. Sarasota Memorial received the Level III verification for providing advanced care to low and moderate-risk pregnancies, as well as to high-risk patients, including subspecialty care for more complex maternal medical conditions, obstetric complications and fetal conditions.

  • Magnet Nursing Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the most prestigious distinction for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care. Sarasota Memorial first earned designation in 2003 and has remained the only hospital in the region with Magnet recognition for the past 20 years. Fewer than 1% of hospitals in the U.S. have received the recognition five time or more as SMH-Sarasota has. 

  • SMH-Sarasota is Sarasota County's only state-designated Comprehensive Stroke Center, the highest recognition given to regional referral centers for people experiencing highly complex strokes. SMH-Venice has earned Primary Stroke Center specialty designation, while Sarasota Memorial’s freestanding ER in North Port is designated as an Acute Stroke Ready Center. All three facilities follow the same emergency care protocols to diagnose and stabilize patients experiencing stroke emergencies.

  • Sarasota Memorial has earned Hip & Knee Replacement Center of Excellence from DNV Healthcare, one of the nation's leading accrediting organizations.

  • American Heart Association and the Mitral Foundation awarded SMH the 2023 Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award for a demonstrated record of superior clinical outcomes.

  • Top honors for medical outcomes and excellence in the American Heart Association (AHA) annual “Get With The Guidelines” assessments. SMH-Sarasota was awarded three designations in 2023: “Stroke Gold Plus Honor Roll Elite,” “Gold Plus Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll" and "Gold Resuscitation Adult Award." SMH-Venice received the "Stroke Silver Plus", the highest level that can be achieved in a hospital's first year of participation. 

  • Full three-year accreditation for Cancer Care Services from the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer. Sarasota Memorial has maintained continuous Commission on Cancer accreditation since 1988. 
     
  • SMH Nurse Residency Program is accredited with distinction by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Research indicates that residency programs can increase job satisfaction, reduce nurse turnover and improve clinical competence, which ultimately impacts safety and quality.
     
  • Listed among the 2022 Best Workplaces for Commuters by the University of South Florida's Center for Urban Transportation Research. 

  • Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehab Facilities (CARF) for Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Specialty Stroke programs. 

  • Recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System by the John A. Hartfod Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement for its efforts to focus on the unique care needs of older adults. 

  • SMH's Bariatric and Metabolic Center is accredited as a higher level “Comprehensive Center” under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program.

  • Three Beacon Awards for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses for high-quality patient care: Gold Beacon Award of Excellence for the Cardiac Acute Telemetry Unit; Silver Beacon Award of Excellence for the Critical Care Unit; and Silver Beacon Award of Excellence for the Cardiovascular Thoracic Stepdown/Cardiac Progressive 3 Unit.

  • Sarasota Memorial's Palliative Care program is named a Gold Winner in the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) / John A. Hartford Foundation's 2021 Tipping Point Challenge, for delivering enhanced and customized care for those living with serious illness.

  • Sarasota Memorial Hospital was named one of the world’s “Most Wired” hospitals in 2021 by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) for advancing a broad range of digital health technologies promoting better and more secure patient interactions and care.
     
  • Sarasota Memorial is designated as a Gold Standard Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR), one of the largest and most influential medical associations in the U.S.
     
  • Sarasota Memorial's Breast Health Center is a Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence, as designated by the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers (NQMBC) program.
     
  • ACR Lung Cancer Screening Center
    • Sarasota Memorial is designated as a Lung Cancer Screening Center by the American College of Radiology. This elite distinction recognizes facilities that have committed to practice safe, effective diagnostic care for individuals at the highest risk for lung cancer.

  • Aetna Institutes of Quality Designation for Cardiac Rhythm, Cardiac Surgery and Total Joint Replacement

  • Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Center of Excellence for Laboratory Services.