Sarasota Memorial in top 5%

SARASOTA -Sarasota Memorial Health Care System earned HealthGrades' 2012 Patient Safety Excellence Award for the ninth consecutive year.

The designation, given by the independent health care rating organization, is awarded to the nation's top 5% of hospitals for patient safety.

The organization analyzed 5,000 hospitals nationwide that participate in Medicare. Medicare patients at hospitals that earned the Patient Safety Excellence Award were 48% less likely to experience one of 13 preventable safety events, according to the study.

In February, Sarasota Memorial received the designation of being one of “America's 50 Best Hospitals,” by HealthGrades. This puts Sarasota Memorial in the top 1% of hospitals for consistently superior outcomes, according to the organization.

“Delivering safe patient care is not a process, procedure or safety list that you check off at the end of each day,” says Sarasota Memorial CEO Gwen MacKenzie in a news release. “It is a mindset and way of caring for patients every minute of every day that works only with the care and commitment of a competent, cohesive team.”