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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 - Sarasota Campus 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 — on every report card since SMH began participating in Leapfrog's survey in 2016. The SMH-Venice Campus, which opened in 2021, earned an "A" grade on its first eligible report card in Spring 2024.

  • Listed among U.S. News' 50 Best Hospitals for Rehabilitation Care, 2024 - 2025.
    • 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
      • Pulmonary/Lung Surgery
      • Urology
    • SMH also earned “high performer" for the following procedures and conditions:
      • Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair (AAA)
      • Aortic Valve Surgery
      • Back Surgery
      • Colon Cancer Surgery
      • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
      • Heart Attack
      • Heart Bypass Surgery
      • Heart Failure
      • Hip Replacement
      • Knee Replacement
      • Kidney Failure
      • Leukemia, Lymphoma & Myeloma
      • Lung Cancer Surgery
      • Pneumonia
      • 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 and Greatest Workplaces for Women by Newsweek,  2024
    • Sarasota Memorial Hospital was once again named one of the "World's Best Hospitals" in the 2024 global ranking of hospitals compiled by Newsweek magazine, in collaboration with Statista Inc. SMH has earned a spot on the list every year since the global rankings began in 2019 and is the only hospital in southwest Florida ever to make the list. The health system also earned a 5-star rating in Newsweeks list "America's Greatest Workplaces for Women", the only hospital on the Suncoast to be recognized on the list. 

  • Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award
    • Sarasota Memorial Hospital was one of only 62 organizations worldwide recognized as an Exceptional Workplace by Gallup in 2025. 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' America's Best Large Employers
    • In 2024, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System ranked among the top 20% of thousands of large U.S. employers, across all industries, and among the top three largest healthcare employers in Florida.

  • Becker's Top 150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare
    •  Sarasota Memorial Health Care System was recognized among the 2024 Top Places to Work in Healthcare, highlighting hospitals, health systems and healthcare companies that prioritize workplace excellence and the wellbeing of their employees, emphasize social responsibility and provide volunteer opportunities that have a deep impact on their communities.

  • 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 2% 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 2024 Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award for a demonstrated record of superior clinical outcomes.

  • The American Heart Association (AHA) awarded SMH-Sarasota and SMH-Venice campuses in 2024 with its “Stroke Gold Plus” quality award, the highest designation hospitals can achieve for demonstrating sustained, superior performance in stroke care. AHA gave each campus two additional awards: "Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus" and "Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll", both awards recognizing excellence in rapid response and preventative interventions for stroke patients.  

  • 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. 

  • 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 2023 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.