Venice Marks 6 Months of Success and Start of Expansion

Venice Marks 6 Months of Success and Start of Expansion

Sarasota Memorial – Venice recently celebrated a successful six months since the new hospital opened in November of 2021.

The 110-bed facility is already planning to expand to 178 beds within the next couple of years to accommodate the huge demand for care. Inpatient volumes have regularly exceeded all expectations since its first week of service.

The SMH-Venice team recently celebrated the start of the expansion project, which will add a new patient care tower to the hospital. From left are Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wesner, Chief Financial Officer Steve Miglietta, Chief Nursing Officer Jean Lucas and President Sharon Roush.

The rendering above left shows the hospital with the new tower, which will add 68 more private patient rooms to the Venice campus when complete in 2024. Above right is a preview of the exterior design of the new wing.

Marking the start of the expansion project from left are Veronica Smiley, PCT in Pre-Operative Services, with Kathy LeFrancois, manager for Nursing Supervision.

Venice Six-Month Stats

Facts & figures since the hospital opened in November, 2021:

  • 16,179 Emergency Room Visits
  • 5,349 Patients Discharged
  • 1,374 Operating Room Cases
  • 65 Babies Born
  • 24,000 Venipunctures Performed
  • 30,540 Radiology Exams Performed
  • 1,003 Medical Staff Members
  • 998 Employees
  • 386,873 Pharmacy Orders Processed
  • 7,845 Pizzas Sold
  • 152,000 Masks Used

New Campus Earns Stroke Center Designation

SMH-Venice also recently earned designation as a Primary Stroke Center from DNV GL Healthcare. The recognition demonstrates that the new hospital completed a rigorous on-site survey and met or exceeded all requirements established by the state of Florida and the national accrediting organization for advanced stroke care.

SMH-Venice is the third facility in the health system to earn stroke care designations:

  • SMH-Sarasota is a nationally designated Comprehensive Stroke Center, the highest designation given to regional referral centers for people experiencing highly complex strokes.
  • Our freestanding ER in North Port recently received designation as an Acute Stroke Ready Center.

All three campuses follow the same emergency care protocols to diagnose and stabilize patients experiencing stroke emergencies, with helipads to speed transport time for patients who need to be airlifted from rural or outlying areas that lack the resources to treat stroke patients.

Congratulations to all of the teams involved in demonstrating excellence in stroke care!