Why SMH

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional medical center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care. With its flagship, 901-bed, acute-care hospital in Sarasota and the new 110-bed SMH-Venice hospital, the health system has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s largest — and best — with superior patient outcomes, advanced specialties and range of preventive screening, diagnostic and post-acute services. Sarasota Memorial aims to offer our community the highest-quality healthcare and best patient experience in the nation.

Here are some of the accomplishments that recognize our focus on your care:

• Highest 5-Star rating from Medicare for quality and safety, 2022
  • 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.
• Named among 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals in U.S., 2023
  • Sarasota Memorial Hospital is one of the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals in the US, named by IBM Watson Health in the 2023 Fortune/IBM Watson Health list. According to the Watson Health, more than 7,000 lives could be saved and more than 5,000 heart patients could be complication free, if all hospitals performed at the level of the top 50 award winners.
• Top 100 Hospitals in U.S., 2022
  • Sarasota Memorial is one of the 100 Top Hospitals, and among the 40 Top Teaching Hospitals, in the U.S., named by Merative/Fortune (previously IBM Watson Health) in 2022. The Top 100 Hospitals outperformed peer-group hospitals on all evaluated clinical and operational performance benchmarks.
• “A” Grade for Patient Safety, 2023
  • 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.
• U.S. News High Performer, 2022-2023

  • Earned “high performer” ratings in 15 procedures and conditions as evaluated in U.S. News’ 2022-2023 “Best Hospitals” study. Evaluated procedures and conditions included, heart bypass surgery, aortic valve surgery, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), heart attack and heart failure. 

• World’s Best Hospitals by Newsweek, 2023
  • Sarasota Memorial Hospital was named one of the World’s Best Hospitals in a 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 to ever make the list since the global rankings began in 2018.
• Top honors for medical outcomes and excellence by the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) 
  
  • SMH was awarded three designations in 2022: “Stroke Gold Plus with Honor Roll Elite” and “Gold Plus Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll” and “Resuscitation Silver Adult Award.” 
• Superior clinical outcomes for Mitral Valve Procedure 
  
  • American Heart Association and the Mitral Foundation awarded SMH the 2021 Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award for a demonstrated record of.  Sarasota Memorial Hospital is one of 15 hospitals across the nation to receive this recognition.
• First in Region to be TAVR Certified
  • The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has recognized Sarasota Memorial and its Structural Heart Team for expertise in transcatheter valve replacement procedures (TAVR). SMH was the first hospital in Southwest Florida to be awarded Transcatheter Valve Certification.
• Among Top 20 Programs for Treating A-Fib Using Watchman Implant
  • Sarasota Memorial Hospital has earned a spot among the nation’s Top 20 Watchman programs for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (A-Fib). SMH is 1 of only 2 hospitals in the state of Florida to reach this milestone, with more than 900 procedures performed to date.
• Excellence in Nursing
  • Sarasota Memorial has Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the most prestigious distinction for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care.
• Our Cardiac Acute Care Unit was awarded the Gold Beacon Award by the American Association of Critical Care nurses for demonstrating excellence in nursing care.
• U.S.’s ‘Most Wired’ hospitals, 2021
  • Sarasota Memorial was named one of the CHIME’s (College of Healthcare Information Management Executives) 2021 “Most Wired” tech-savvy hospitals in the nation for pioneering IT systems that promote security and safety.