David Verinder, president and CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, has been named chair of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida’s board of directors.
The alliance advocates for the state’s 14 flagship safety net health care systems, which play a crucial role in caring for Florida’s most vulnerable citizens, providing essential, highly specialized medical services, and training the next generation of physicians.
The organization’s members comprise only about 10 percent of all hospitals in Florida, yet they have shouldered the care for 60 percent of the state’s COVID-19 hospitalized patients.
Safety Net Alliance hospitals have been at the forefront of not only COVID-19 care, but also highly specialized procedures, treatments, research and cures that are proving that Floridians have access to the best health care in the nation. Along with Sarasota Memorial, these hospitals have dominated the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s “Star” ratings and U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals in Florida” rankings even before the pandemic.
“It’s a privilege to be a part of an organization that strives to provide all Floridians with access to the highest quality of care,” said Verinder. “Safety net hospitals have stepped up to meet the unprecedented challenges of the global pandemic, and we will continue to work with state and federal leaders to ensure we have the resources and support needed to care for our communities.”
Verinder will serve a two-year term as chair of the Safety Net Alliance board, which is composed of CEOs from public, teaching, children’s and regional perinatal intensive care hospitals.
Verinder has served as president and CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System since 2014. An 839-bed public health system with 7,000 staff, Sarasota Memorial has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s best, with superior patient outcomes and a complete continuum of care. During his tenure, Verinder has overseen the development and successful implementation of new medical services and programs to improve the region’s access to top-quality care, including the opening of Sarasota County’s only Trauma Center, the launch of graduate medical education programs with Florida State University’s College of Medicine, the construction of a new hospital slated to open in south Sarasota County in the Fall of 2021, and the development of the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute to provide comprehensive oncology care. Sarasota Memorial is the only hospital in Florida — and one of just 45 across the nation — to earn the highest possible rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in every reporting period since the program began in 2016.