Heart, stroke care lauded at Sarasota hospital

SARASOTA — Sarasota Memorial Hospital earned recertification for its programs that treat heart failure and strokes.

The Joint Commission, a nonprofit formerly called the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, awarded the certification after several on-site tests at SMH over the past year, according to a release. Certification, the release states, involves excellent in three core areas: compliance with consensus-based national standards; effective use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care; and an organized approach to performance measurement and improvement activities.

“In achieving Joint Commission certification, Sarasota Memorial has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its patients who have had a stroke or managing heart failure and stroke,” says Jean Range, the executive director for disease-specific care certification at the Joint Commission, in a release.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital was recently named one of 75 medical facilities nationwide to participate in an experimental study to treat patients who seek an alternative to open-heart surgery. The acute-care, community-run hospital has 806 beds, 4,000 employees and 800,000 patient visits a year.