Sarasota Memorial Hospital


Sarasota Memorial Hospital is an 839-bed health care facility located in Sarasota, Florida. The hospital was founded in 1925 and is currently the only trauma center in Sarasota County, Florida.

History

Early years

Local residents started to raise funds for the hospital in 1921. Sarasota Hospital opened on November 2, 1925, with a capacity of 32 beds and usage of simple canvas tents. In 1927, the facility was turned over to the city of Sarasota and was renamed Sarasota Municipal Hospital. By the 1930s, the hospital had a capacity of 100 beds, an ambulance garage, nurses' home and wing for patient overflow. The hospital continued to expand in the 1940s, with a surgical suite, kitchen and dining room and an air-conditioned unit. The hospital was renamed in 1954 to its current name in honor of the veterans from World War I and World War II.

Graduate medical education

Sarasota Memorial Hospital operates an internal medicine residency training program, which is affiliated with Florida State University.