Sarasota Memorial Hospital report touts 2023 expansion

By Observer Staff
| 5:00 a.m. June 25, 2024

Sarasota
News

Sarasota Memorial Hospital recently released its 2024 Community Update, highlighting the hospital’s expansion efforts in the last year and providing a snapshot of the scope of services it provides.

“The past year has been one of monumental growth and service for Sarasota Memorial Health Care System,” SMH spokeswoman Kim Savage said in a news release.

The hospital is also on the latest U.S. News & World Report's list of the top hospitals in the country for over 20 types of care, ranking among Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals, and earning a spot on Forbes’ list of “America’s Best Large Employers.”

The update highlighted three major projects underway in the past 12 months:

The opening of the state-of-the-art Cornell Behavioral Health Pavilion in 2023, providing a complete continuum of mental health care as Sarasota County’s only hospital that serves behavioral health patients of all ages.
Groundbreaking on the new Milman-Kover Cancer Pavilion, a new seven-story outpatient cancer center scheduled to open in 2025. It is the third in a series of premier cancer care facilities that make up SMH’s expanding Brian D. Jellison Institute.
Ongoing construction of the Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute. When it opens in 2025, the Institute will include physician training, clinical education programs and a medical library. It also will house a new, state-of-the-art simulation center to provide safe, hands-on training for caregivers.

With more than 10,000 employees, the hospital system is the region’s largest employer, adding nearly 3,600 new staff members in 2023.

“As stewards of public resources, we are dedicated to ensuring that Sarasota Memorial Health Care System continues to deliver excellent care and maintain complete trust and confidence in the community we serve,” Sarasota County Public Hospital Board Chair Sarah Lodge said in the news release. “In looking back at the progress over the past year, we are proud to support an organization that prioritizes patient safety and quality above all else.”

SMH by the numbers:

In 2023, the community-owned health system had:

1.7 million patient visits systemwide
172,400 visits at its three Emergency Care Centers
31,300 surgeries performed
4,600 babies delivered
$284 million in mission services costs, which include charity care, clinics and other community programs; bad debt; around-the-clock specialty care for trauma, emergency and hospitalized patients; and Medicaid/Medicare losses
2,500 physicians and advanced care providers
700 volunteers
$1.6 billion in operating expenses, including $900 million payroll, helping support the local workforce, businesses and community.
$900 million payroll supporting local workforce
$1.6 billion in operating expenses that help support local businesses and community members
$196.7 million in facilities and equipment upgrades to improve care.

Founded in 1925, SMH was the county’s first modern hospital and remains the only community-owned, not-for-profit hospital in the region.

The health system is guided by an unpaid, publicly elected Sarasota County Public Hospital Board, which provides strategic oversight, transparency and accountability.

The complete 2024 Community Update is available on SMH.com.