Sarasota Memorial named to America's 50 best hospitals

A HealthGrades study concluded recently that if all hospitals in the United States had performed at the level of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, more than a half million Medicare deaths could have been prevented between 1999 and 2009.

Just one month after earning HealthGrades’ Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence for the ninth year in a row, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System’s superior clinical outcomes resulted in HealthGrades’ ranking it among the elite “America’s 50 best hospitals.”

Sarasota Memorial has been recognized among America’s 50 best hospitals for the past five years and is the only hospital in the Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties ever to make the list.

HealthGrades evaluates hospitals solely on patient’s clinical outcomes. To be recognized with this distinction, hospitals must have had risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates in the top 5% in the nation for the most consecutive years.

“Quality is not a designation or destination — it’s a way of thinking and working that requires dedication and diligence by every member of our health care team, every day, to continue providing the safest, best care to patients,” said Sarasota Memorial CEO, Gwen MacKenzie, in a prepared statement. “We’re proud to be ranked among the nation’s 50 best hospitals, but the most important measures of our success come from our patients. It’s their outcomes, experiences and satisfaction that drive our quality of care.”

Contact Loren Mayo at [email protected].

Sarasota Memorial Hospital designations for 2010-2011

• America’s 50 Best Hospitals recognizing the top 1% of all hospitals in the nation for overall clinical excellence for five years in a row, 2007-2011

• Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence recognizing top 5% of all hospitals in the nation for clinical excellence for nine years in a row, 2003-2011

• Patient Safety Excellence Award™– six years in a row, 2004-2010

• Excellence in Emergency Medicine – 2010

• Excellence in Cardiac Care & Coronary Intervention – 2010

• Excellence in Gastrointestinal Care & Gastrointestinal Surgery – 2010 and 2011

• Excellence in Maternity Care – 2010 and 2011

• Excellence in Spine Surgery – 2010

• Excellence in Pulmonary Care – 2010 and 2011

• Excellence in Critical Care – 2010 and 2011

• Excellence in Women’s Health Excellence – 2010 and 2011