Sharon Roush has been named the founding president of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMH)’s new south county hospital and 65-acre medical campus on Laurel Road, according to Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder. Roush is slated to step into the new executive role in July to oversee the design, construction and opening of Sarasota Memorial Hospital – Laurel Road, and its ongoing operations. A resident of Sarasota, Roush comes from South Bay Hospital in Sun City, FL., where she served as CEO of the 138-bed community hospital in HCA Healthcare’s West Florida Division for nearly 10 years. Before that, she served as CEO for two other HCA hospitals in Florida: Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee and Columbia Hospital in West Palm Beach. Over the course of her 25-year career, Roush successfully led the development and design of one of HCA’s largest building projects—the replacement hospital, Capital Regional Medical Center—and expanded multiple service lines in the communities she served Selecting Roush for its president is SMH’s first step in building its south county leadership team. Her first priorities will be overseeing the campus’ pre-construction plans, including hosting community workshops and meeting with city officials. As the hospital takes shape, she also will focus on staffing and assembling a specialized medical staff and clinical team. It will take about three years to build the new hospital.

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System