SARASOTA, Fla. (Sep. 30, 2025) – Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Sarasota has earned the Emergency General Surgery Verification from the American College of Surgeons, in recognition of excellence in the response to and treatment of emergency general surgery situations. SMH-Sarasota is the second hospital in the state of Florida to earn this distinction, and the 13th in the nation.
Roughly 4 million patients undergo emergency general surgery each year, often presenting sudden and complex surgical problems for physicians to address with little time and even less information. Nationally, these patients experience three times the mortality rate of elective surgery patients and are six times more likely to experience serious complications. Nearly 50% of operative mortality occurs in an emergency general surgery setting.
In response, the American College of Surgeons developed the Emergency General Surgery Verification Program to establish industry standards, assess hospital performance and encourage best practices that lower costs, expedite care, and improve patient outcomes. Evaluation by the ACS occurs over the course of multiple site visits and hospitals earn verification by demonstrating excellence in multiple elements of emergency general surgical care and superior quality across multiple domains, including program scope and governance, resources for facilities and personnel, clinical care, data analysis and availability, education, research, quality improvement and overall institutional commitment.
“We are proud to be recognized as only the second hospital in Florida to achieve quality accreditation in Emergency General Surgery – a testament to our team’s dedication, skill, and unwavering commitment to providing the highest level of care when patients need it most,” said David Patterson, MBA, BSN, RN, Associate Chief Nursing Officer at SMH-Sarasota.
“This new Emergency General Surgery program was built to align with our well-established Trauma Program, utilizing the same structure, best-practices, and highly trained personnel to provide immediate life-saving surgical care to all patients in need, whether presenting with a life-threatening injury or illness,” said Dr. Christian Schuetz, Medical Director for Trauma and Emergency General Surgery at SMH-Sarasota. “The community can rely on our team of surgeons, who are on-site 24/7, to provide surgical care that excels in industry-leading innovations and outcomes for all their emergency surgical needs, be it an injury from a car crash or acute appendicitis.”
This is the fourth ACS recognition for SMH-Sarasota, which includes accreditation from both the Commission on Cancer and the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer, and participation in the ACS Trauma Quality Improvement Program.
About Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional medical center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care, with 2,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and nearly 2 million patient visits a year across its network of care. Sarasota County’s largest employer, the community-owned health system includes two full-service hospitals in Sarasota and Venice, freestanding ERs in North Port and Lakewood Ranch, a rehabilitation hospital, a behavioral health hospital, a skilled nursing facility and a comprehensive network of outpatient centers, urgent care clinics and physician practices. Founded in 1925, SMH is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2025 and encouraging community members to visit smh.com/100 throughout the year for centennial events and updates.