Sarasota Memorial Health Care System history

In 1927, the facility was turned over to the city of Sarasota, and was 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.

1949 The Florida Legislature passes an Enabling Act to create a special hospital district, and the Hospital Board is later formed.

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.

1954 Sarasota Municipal Hospital is deeded to the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board and renamed Sarasota Memorial Hospital in honor of the veterans from both World Wars.

1955 The new south wing opens, bringing hospital capacity to 225 beds.

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

1969 The Retter wing opens with 92 beds, a medical library and conference room, made possible through a $1 million gift from Mr. and Mrs.

On the morning of July 15, 1974, American news reporter, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide with a revolver on live television and was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead 14 hours later.

1976 The East Tower is completed, and allows patients to be transported to or from the hospital by helicopter.

1983 An Open Heart Surgery Center opens and reaches the 100-patient mark within four months.

1997 CareVision medical records software, the first patient care application in the United States, begins running on a patient care unit.

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

1999 Sarasota Memorial becomes one of the first hospitals in the nation to use Zeus, a minimally invasive robotic device, in heart surgery.

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

2004 United States News & World Report names Sarasota Memorial one of America’s Best Hospitals.

2005 Gwen MacKenzie, RN, MN, MHSA, is appointed president and CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System.

2006 A new Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) ambulance is put into service, and SAM, a realistic high-tech mannequin used for medical training, joins the hospital’s Patient Simulation Lab.

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.

2014 Sarasota Memorial achieves Magnet® designation for the third time.

2016 Sarasota Memorial opens its sixth urgent care center.

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.

2019 Sarasota Memorial breaks ground on its new hospital and 65-acre medical campus in Venice.