Integrated Health Services At Sarasota Inc history

1927 Construction on a hospital annex begins, and the facility is turned over to the City of Sarasota and renamed Sarasota Municipal Hospital.

1946 Improvements include a surgical suite, enlarged garage, a kitchen and dining room, a new concrete block wing and the first air-conditioning unit.

1948 An Auxiliary forms to provide services and badly needed equipment.

1950 Don Laurent begins a 25-year career as an administrator of Sarasota Municipal Hospital.

1952 The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) forms, and the hospital receives its first of many accreditations two years later.

1964 The Century Club begins with 20 members, who each pledge $100 a year to purchase unbudgeted equipment for the hospital.

1998 Jo Mills Reis Care Center opens to offer family-friendly care in an atmosphere less stressful than traditional Emergency rooms.

2003 The hospital earns its first four-year Magnet designation, the nursing profession’s highest honor.

2009 Sarasota Memorial opens a $20 million, 26,500-square-foot, freestanding Emergency Room and Health Care Center in North Port, and opens an outpatient care center in Manatee County’s Heritage Harbour community.

2017 Sarasota Memorial opens the $50-million, state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Pavilion.

2018 Sarasota Memorial becomes the first hospital in southwest Florida to earn the international Baby-Friendly Hospital designation for promoting the best practices in maternity care.