Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s heart team performed its 1000th surgery in September, setting a record for the number of surgical heart procedures performed at the hospital in just one year. The team also demonstrated record-setting outcomes in 2018, achieving the highest quality ranking possible for adult heart surgeries from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. With Dr. Jeffrey Sell at the helm, cardiac surgery volumes increased 15-20 percent each year since 2013. Annual volumes have more than doubled since 2012, from 393 that year to 1,015 in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.  Meanwhile, SMH’s program demonstrated exceptional patient results, according to benchmark data provided by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ quality database and a review by Consumer Reports. SMH was listed as a top performer for patient outcomes in the July issue of the consumer magazine—only 18 of nearly 500 hospitals evaluated earned top scores from Consumer Reports in both valve replacement and bypass surgery, the two most common types of heart surgery. Consumer Reports based its analysis on the national STS database. In 2018, SMH is among just three cardiac programs in the United States and Canada that earned STS’s highest 3-Star rating for patient care and outcomes in all five adult cardiac surgery procedures measured.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital