Community-owned health system boasts the only 5-Star hospitals in four-county Suncoast region
The Sarasota Memorial Health Care System reached “an important milestone” on May 13, its staff announced: Both its Sarasota and Venice hospitals earned the highest, 5-Star quality rating from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
In the update this week to the CMS Care Compare website — “a federal tool that helps patients evaluate quality and safety in more than 4,000 hospitals nationwide — Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Sarasota earned a 5-Star rating for the 11th consecutive year, while Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice improved from four stars to its first 5-Star rating since opening in 2021,” a news release points out.
“The community-owned health system boasts the only 5-Star hospitals in the four-county Suncoast region, and its flagship SMH-Sarasota campus remains the only hospital in Florida, and among just 12 in the nation, to maintain a perfect 5-Star rating every year since the ratings began in 2016,” the release further notes.
“The addition of SMH-Venice to the 5-Star ranks highlights the health system’s ability to replicate a culture of excellence and patient-centered care across campuses, said Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder,” the release continues.
“These dual 5-star ratings send a strong message to our community and to patients across Florida that they can expect nationally recognized care at every Sarasota Memorial campus,” Verinder said in the release. “They reflect the strength of our teams working together as one health system with a shared mission and culture grounded in quality and safety,” he pointed out.
In addition to its 5-star ratings, SMH repeatedly is “recognized for quality and safety by many independent hospital rating organizations, including U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, Forbes and Premier’s 100 Top Hospitals, the release notes. “Both hospitals also have a ‘Straight A’ safety streak in The Leapfrog Group’s twice-annual hospital safety report cards,” it says.
“The CMS star ratings are particularly meaningful because they summarize a hospital’s overall performance, with broad, standardized metrics across five critical areas,” the release explains: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely/effective care.
“Verinder praised the teams from both campuses for setting the benchmark for safe, high-quality care on the Suncoast, and across the nation,” the release adds.
“As health care becomes more complex, maintaining this level of quality requires relentless focus, collaboration and accountability,” Verinder said in the release. “These stars belong to every member of our team who come to work every day focused on providing the best care possible for our patients and community.”