SARASOTA, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2026) – There is encouraging news about our nation’s heart health. Thanks to advances in cardiac care and prevention, the percentage of people dying from heart attacks nationwide has dropped significantly – nearly 90 percent – in the past 50 years.
As American Heart Month comes to a close this week, Sarasota Memorial Hospital is spotlighting the progress made – and the complex work that remains. Despite advances in cardiac care and rapid intervention, heart disease remains the #1 killer of both men and women, but now with arrhythmias, hypertension and heart failure making up the larger share of heart-related deaths.
“We’ve made tremendous strides in getting patients through that first, critical cardiac event, and we’re proud of that progress,” said Jonathan Hoffberger, DO, chief of cardiovascular surgery at
Sarasota Memorial. “But what truly defines success is how well patients recover, how we prevent the next event, and how our teams work together to guide them through the rest of their lives.”
It takes an experienced, collaborative heart team constantly reviewing outcomes and supporting a unified continuum of care to move the needle on long-term survival. The Suncoast is fortunate to have that team at Sarasota Memorial, which once again was ranked among the nation’s “50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals” in 2026. The independent quality analysis conducted by Premier Inc. and published in Modern Healthcare earlier this month spotlighted SMH among the top 50 hospitals delivering superior results across 21 quality measures spanning medical management, surgical outcomes and patient experience.
The ranking reflects the expertise and outcomes that come from a coordinated, multidisciplinary heart team approach. Sarasota Memorial’s heart team includes cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, cardiac surgeons, thoracic surgeons, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, cardiac intensivists and other critical care specialists, as well as specially trained clinicians who help manage their care.
Among other pioneering advances, the team is recognized nationally and internationally for a number of life-saving procedures, including:
- #1 site in the world implanting the WATCHMAN, an innovative device approved in 2015 to reduce the risk of strokes – without medication - in patients with atrial fibrillation.
- #1 in the Southeast and #4 in the United States for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), a catheter-based treatment to replace leaking or narrowed heart valves.
- #1 in Florida and among top 10 in the United States providing MitraClip for people with mitral regurgitation.
- Highest quality tier in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons national database for adult cardiac bypass surgery.
- One of two Florida hospitals designated a Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center for superior, sustained outcomes in mitral valve repair surgery.
- Among select cardiac surgery teams utilizing the Florida Sleeve to offer faster, safer treatment options for potentially deadly aortic root aneurysms and aortic valve disorders.
But at Sarasota Memorial, heart care doesn’t end when a procedure is complete or a patient leaves the hospital. The health system has built a seamless continuum of outpatient care designed to support patients at every stage — from prevention and early detection to advanced intervention and lifelong management.
That outpatient network includes specialized outpatient clinics focused on managing congestive heart failure, anticoagulation therapy, stroke prevention, diabetes and other chronic cardiac conditions. Patients also have access to cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, medically integrated fitness programs, and personalized nutrition and lifestyle coaching — resources that help people regain strength after a cardiac event or surgery, reduce complications and lower the risk of future cardiac events.
According to Modern Healthcare, nearly 15,000 additional lives could be saved, and more than 27,300 additional surgical patients could be complication-free, if all U.S. hospitals performed at the level of the top 50 cardiovascular hospitals. Learn more at: www.smh.com/heart
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 about 2,500 physicians and advanced practice providers, nearly 11,000 employees and 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, behavioral health hospital, skilled nursing facility and comprehensive network of outpatient centers, urgent care clinics and physician practices. Founded in 1925, SMH’s flagship Sarasota hospital is the only Florida hospital to earn a perfect 5-Star rating from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — every year — since the federal rating program began in 2016.