Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice has operated at or near full capacity since opening Nov. 11, 2021, pointing to the pressing healthcare needs in rapidly growing south Sarasota County communities. In its first six months of operation, the SMH-Venice team managed more than 16,000 visits to its emergency room, admitted roughly 5,200 patients, performed over 1,400 surgeries and delivered more than five dozen babies. With higher than anticipated volumes from day 1, SMH leaders immediately began plans to add a third patient care tower to the Venice campus. Pre-construction work is under way on the $113 million expansion, which will add 68 more private patient suites by early 2024 pending design and permitting approvals, said SMH-Venice President Sharon Roush.

“While the pandemic certainly added to our volumes, the real driver for this expansion is the rapid population growth we are seeing in the south county region and a strong preference among patients to receive their medical and surgical care at SMH,” Roush said.

SMH-Venice is Sarasota Memorial Health Care System’s second acute-care hospital. With nearly 1,000 employees, and more than 1,000 physicians and medical staff members, SMH-Venice offers a full array of acute medical services, from emergency and intensive care, to specialized surgery and medical care for cardiac, stroke, orthopedic, obstetrical patients, and more.