SARASOTA (June 17, 2026) - Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMH) marked another milestone year in its 2026 Community Report, highlighting its work to expand access to nationally recognized care and invest in medical innovation and research, while setting new benchmarks as one of the nation's highest-performing health systems. The new report provides an overview of initiatives, investments and community partnerships that are improving health outcomes, expanding lifesaving services and ensuring residents have access to advanced care close to home.
According to Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder, the biennial report reflects the unique value of a public, community-owned health system and how Sarasota Memorial reinvests its resources to meet the region’s evolving healthcare needs.
"Being community-owned means every decision we make is guided by what is best for the people we serve," said Verinder. "The resources generated by Sarasota Memorial stay right here in our community, supporting services, innovations and investments that improve health outcomes, strengthen our medical infrastructure and ensure local residents can receive world-class care close to home."
Following are some of the initiatives, expansions and community investments that are helping shape the future of healthcare in Sarasota County:
Expansion to Meet Growing Community Needs
Sarasota Memorial Hospital-North Port: In November 2025, SMH broke ground on a new $507 million hospital in North Port. Situated on a 32-acre site the health system owns on North Sumter Boulevard, SMH-North Port will be the city’s first acute-care hospital, and the third hospital SMH has built in its 100-year history. When completed in 2028, SMH-North Port will be nine stories tall, with an adjacent 3-story medical office building. The hospital will initially open with 100 beds, with three floors of built-in shell space to quickly double capacity to 208 beds as demand grows. The south county campus is designed to grow with the community, with the capacity to increase to more than 400 beds in the future.
Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute/Milman-Kover Cancer Pavilion: The 7-story Milman-Kover Cancer Pavilion opened this month on the flagship Sarasota hospital campus. The third in a series of premier cancer care facilities that make up SMH’s expanding Brian D. Jellison Institute, the outpatient pavilion is connected to the adjacent inpatient and surgical Oncology Tower and features a new and expanded breast health center, outpatient surgery suites, radiation oncology, infusion services, diagnostic imaging, radiation oncology, physician clinics and integrative and supportive care. Sarasota Memorial launched the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute in 2021 to address the rising number of local cancer cases and offer a level of personalized care and support found at the nation’s top cancer centers, with a top-tier team of specialists, clinical trials, genetic testing, advanced imaging and innovative technology and tools to diagnose and treat difficult cancers.
SMH-Venice Expansion: The Venice hospital has doubled its capacity since opening in 2021, with recent additions expanding capacity from 110 to 212 private patient suites; the projects also doubled emergency care treatment rooms and expanded surgical and radiology services. The investment in south Sarasota County proved critical, as privately owned Shorepoint Venice Hospital closed abruptly in 2022 and soon after, SMH-Venice and SMH-Sarasota were among the few hospitals in the Southwest Florida region to remain fully open and operational before, during and after Hurricane Ian, as well as Hurricane Milton in 2024. Two new expansion projects also are now underway, including a 4-story inpatient Rehabilitation Pavilion that will directly connect to the hospital and an outpatient center that will soon begin construction on land adjacent to the Venice campus.
Advancing Research and Access to Top-Tier Care
In April 2025, Sarasota Memorial opened the Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute, an 82,000-square-foot hub for medical and clinical innovation. Located on the Sarasota campus, the Institute brings innovative research programs and medical education together in one facility to improve care and attract and retain top-tier physicians and care teams. The Institute’s Research division has more than 160 clinical trials underway, connecting patients with groundbreaking therapies and treatments before they are widely available.
Through Sarasota Memorial’s First Physicians Group (FPG), the health system also is filling critical needs by recruiting new physicians to the Suncoast and expanding access to essential primary and specialty care. FPG now has 750 employed physicians and advanced practice providers serving the community. SMH also partners with Florida State University College of Medicine to provide residency and fellowship training for newly graduated physicians and specialists, many of whom stay after they complete their training and establish new practices in our community. To date, nearly half of the physicians who completed advanced training at Sarasota Memorial have opted to remain at SMH, while nearly 70% have stayed in Florida, helping to offset statewide physician shortages.
National Recognition for Quality and Safety
Last month, Sarasota Memorial was recognized among the nation's 15 Top Health Systems in 2026 by Modern Healthcare and Premier Inc., but as demonstrated in the 2026 Community Report notes, SMH continues to receive a string accolades and awards for superior quality and safety. Some of the highlights include:
- CMS 5-Star Rating – SMH-Sarasota is the only hospital in Florida to earn the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ highest rating every year since the star ratings began in 2016. SMH-Venice also achieved a five-star rating in 2026.
- 50 Best Hospitals –U.S. News & World Report continues to rank Sarasota Memorial among the nation's "Best Hospitals." In 2025-2026, SMh ranked among the nation's 50 Best Hospitals in Obstetrics/Gynecology and top 10% in 20 other medical specialties, procedures and conditions.
- World’s Best Hospitals – Newsweek ranked SMH among the World’s Best Hospitals in 2026. SMH has earned a place on the prestigious list every year since the global rankings began in 2019.
- Top Hospital – In 2026, SMH earned a spot on Forbes’ first-ever list of Top Hospitals in the U.S.
- “A” for Patient Safety – Both SMH-Sarasota and SMH-Venice are “Straight A” hospitals, the highest designation given by the Leapfrog Group for hospitals receiving consistently high marks in the organization’s twice-annual hospital safety report cards.
- Top 50 Heart Hospital – SMH-Sarasota was named among the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals in 2026 by Premier/Statista, for demonstrating better survival rates, fewer complications and readmissions, lower costs and higher patient satisfaction.
- Magnet Hospital – SMH-Sarasota is the only hospital in the region to earn Magnet designation, the nation’s highest honor for nursing excellence. SMH has maintained the prestigious designation for over 20 years.
Filling Essential Gaps
The report also highlights Sarasota Memorial's response to one of the community's most pressing healthcare challenges. In the past year, in response to a shortage of obstetricians impacting expectant mothers' ability to access vital prenatal care, SMH created a team of dedicated OB nurse navigators and opened a new Pregnancy and Wellness Center to ensure comprehensive care and support to pregnant women and the safe delivery for nearly 5,000 births in 2025.
More than a century after its founding, Sarasota Memorial continues to fulfill its public mission by providing services that are essential to the community's health and often unavailable elsewhere in the region. Today, it remains Sarasota County's only provider of inpatient obstetrical care, dedicated pediatric inpatient services, neonatal intensive care, trauma care and inpatient psychiatric treatment for all ages, while continuing to serve as a vital healthcare safety net through specialty clinics for uninsured and underinsured residents of Sarasota County.
A digital version of SMH’s 2026 Community Report is available on smh.com at: https://www.smh.com/communityupdate
About Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (smh.com).
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, 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 (and third under construction in North Port), freestanding ERs in North Port and Lakewood Ranch, a rehabilitation hospital, skilled nursing facility and comprehensive network of outpatient centers, urgent care clinics and SMH First Physicians Group primary and specialty care practices. Founded in 1925, SMH's flagship Sarasota campus also is home to the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute, Cornell Behavioral Health Pavilion and Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute. Both Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Sarasota and Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice have earned the highest 5-Star quality ratings from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The SMH-Sarasota is the only Florida hospital - and one of just 11 in the nation - to earn a perfect 5-Star rating from CMS every year since the federal rating program began in 2016.