Health System Listed Among America’s Best Employers for Women

This week, Forbes magazine named Sarasota Memorial among America’s Best Employers for Women, an honor given to less than 1 percent of large companies nationwide.

Forbes, in partnership with research company Statista, developed a list of the 300 Best Employers for Women based on surveys of 50,000 Americans, including 30,000 women, working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. Representing 31 industries across the U.S., the surveyed employees were asked to share opinions about their employer’s culture, image, opportunities for career development, working conditions, salary and wages, and diversity.

SMH-Sarasota Campus President Lorrie Liang said that Sarasota Memorial has a commitment to creating an inclusive workplace through strong hiring/retention practices, family-friendly policies, diversity training and leadership development.

“It’s important to have a diverse team,” Lorrie said. “When it comes to gender, women bring a valuable and unique set of communication and leadership skills to the table.”

Sarasota Memorial Hospital – Venice Campus President Sharon Roush, who is recruiting hundreds of health care workers to help open the new hospital this fall, said diversity is especially important in health care, where people from every race, gender, age and belief system count on care providers to help them overcome myriad medical and life challenges.

“Diversity increases the cultural and clinical competency of our staff and leads to better care and outcomes for our patients,” Sharon said.

Fast Facts:

• SMH ranked 34th in Forbes’ list of the 300 Best Employers for Women, and seventh in the “Healthcare & Social” category.

• Sarasota Memorial is Sarasota County’s largest employer, with about 7,000 employees.

• More than 70 percent of Sarasota Memorial’s leaders are female, including half of our directors and executive team.