SARASOTA (May, 27, 2022) – Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice has operated at or near full capacity since opening Nov. 11, 2021, pointing to the pressing healthcare needs in rapidly growing south Sarasota County communities.
In its first six m
onths of operation, the SMH-Venice team managed more than 16,000 visits to its emergency room, admitted roughly 5,200 patients, performed over 1,400 surgeries and delivered more than five dozen babies.
With higher than anticipated volumes from day 1, SMH leaders immediately began plans to add a third patient care tower to the Venice campus. Pre-construction work is under way on the $113 million expansion, which will add 68 more private patient suites by early 2024 pending design and permitting approvals, said SMH-Venice President Sharon Roush.
“While the pandemic certainly added to our volumes, the real driver for this expansion is the rapid population growth we are seeing in the south county region and a strong preference among patients to receive their medical and surgical care at SMH,” Roush said.
SMH-Venice is Sarasota Memorial Health Care System’s second acute-care hospital. With nearly 1,000 employees, and more than 1,000 physicians and medical staff members, SMH-Venice offers a full array of acute medical services, from emergency and intensive care, to specialized surgery and medical care for cardiac, stroke, orthopedic, obstetrical patients, and more.
Located at the intersection of Laurel Road and Pinebrook Road, the 110-bed hospital includes a 28-bed Emergency Care Center, 8 surgical suites, dedicated labor, delivery, recovery, post-partum birthing suites, and a 22-bed pandemic-ready Intensive Care Unit.
The 65-acre Laurel Road campus was designed to be flexible and expandable without impacting current operations. In future phases, SMH-Venice has the capacity to more than double in size, to 400 private inpatient suites, 16 surgical suites and a 50-bed ER. Bringing Sarasota Memorial's extensive physician base farther south also will help build the medical staff and support plans for a future hospital in North Port.
"Although the need to expand came sooner than anticipated, we are moving forward quickly so that we can care for our growing community now and for years to come," Roush said.
About Sarasota Memorial Health Care System / SMH-Venice
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care, provides services for more than 1 million patients each year across its 2 hospital campuses, freestanding ER, and network of outpatient and urgent care centers. Founded in 1925, the system’s 895-bed flagship facility, Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Sarasota, is a regional referral center for highly specialized care, including trauma, oncology, orthopedic, neonatal intensive care, pediatrics, and acute behavioral health services. SMH-Venice, the health system's second acute-care hospital, is a full-service hospital that opened in November 2021 to serve the rapidly growing south Sarasota County region. Located at the intersection of Laurel Road East and Pinebrook Road, SMH-Venice is equipped to offer a full array of hospital services, from emergency and intensive care, to specialized surgery and care for cardiac, stroke, orthopedic, obstetrical patients, and more. Visit smhvenice.com to learn more.