It used to be Memorial Day marked the start of Sarasota’s slow season. But with a major sporting event in town and tourism to the region continuing to set records , hospitality leaders feel good about this holiday weekend.

“Talking to a couple of hotels, occupancy looks solid and room rates look even better,” said Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota.

After the COVID-19 pandemic briefly ground tourism to a halt in the spring of 2020, including a lockdown that significantly impacted tourism in April that year, this region saw one fo the strongest recoveries in the state or nation. Haley said the Sarasota region and the Florida Keys led the state in tourism recovery in 2021.

At this point, tourism options have opened up beyond Florida. Business travel and conferences still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels. But leisure tourism has been so strong that local hotels have enjoyed a boon— as have tourism tax collections in the region.

This Memorial Day weekend, the region will feel a bump thanks to the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship hosted at Nathan Benderson Park.

But more than occupancy, the industry itself often looks to a profit metric known as revenue per available room, or RevPAR. During the lockdown in April 2020, the region saw RevPAR drop by 89% from prior years to less than $14. This calendar year, RevPAR in Sarasota County jumped above $315 briefly in March. Last week, hotels made about $141 in profit per available room.

“Last year was the best year we’ve ever had, and occupancy may level off because people have more choices,” Haley said.

Indeed, the last week of March marked the first time in more than a year when hotels reported occupancies had dropped year-over-year. But while occupancy for the year is about 13% down from the record hospitality in 2021, hotels are making more money from every hotel stay. Moreover, Haley said, travelers are spending more.

Looking ahead, summer continues to attract a different type of visitors. More Florida tourists come to the area for staycations.

Of note, Haley said one of the reasons conferences haven’t been able to return fully is because hotels continue to have such high interest from leisure travel that there remain occupancy issues for hosting business events. That could mean whenever recreation visitors wane, there could be business bookings waiting for the opportunity to book rooms in bulk. Until then, hotels are happy to fill rooms with tourists paying higher rates.

“Barring outside forces, it looks like our summer is going to be very strong,” Haley said. 

Graphic: Hotels report revenue per available room has continued to grow year over year. Data courtesy Visit Sarasota.

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. 

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System has appointed Jeff Limbocker – a healthcare executive with more than 20 years of financial leadership – to become its next chief financial officer, effective Oct. 3, 2022. Limbocker will succeed William Woeltjen, who is retiring at the end of the year. Woeltjen, who has served 12 years as Sarasota Memorial's CFO and three previous years as treasurer, will remain a key member of the SMH executive team as he guides and advises Limbocker through the transition.

Under Woeltjen's financial management, Sarasota Memorial facilitated the largest expansion in its nearly century of service, opening its new hospital in Venice and the Oncology Tower on the Sarasota campus last year and embarking on a critically needed behavioral health pavilion and outpatient oncology pavilion this year, all while navigating escalating costs and supply and staffing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, SMH also constructed the Courtyard Tower and Rehabilitation Pavilion and created a Trauma Center and physician residency programs, important additions to the Sarasota campus supported by the system's financial stability.

"Bill has been an invaluable member of our leadership team whose contributions have strengthened our health system and benefitted our entire community," said David Verinder, president and CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. "We have two very big shoes to fill, and I want to thank Bill for his dedication and strategic guidance the past 15 years and his ongoing support as we welcome Jeff, another longtime financial executive, to our organization and community."

Limbocker comes to Sarasota from Baton Rouge, LA, where he has worked in leadership roles with the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System since 1995. He served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of the not-for-profit, multi-hospital system for the past three years, and previously served 10 years as regional CFO for the health system's Baton Rouge market and Lady of the Lake Medical Center. 

When it comes to shaping a child’s future, an amazing teacher will help their students grow and succeed and change the trajectory of their lives. Recently, Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation recognized five Sarasota County teachers for going above and beyond in their profession.

Barancik Foundation named five Ripple Effect Teacher Awards winners in partnership with Sarasota County Schools in memory of Chuck Barancik. The semi-annual prize acknowledges five outstanding teachers on Chuck’s birthday in May and five on Margie Barancik’s birthday in September. Each teacher recognized for their positive impact on their students’ lives is awarded $5,000 to spend on professional development experiences, material, and equipment for their classrooms. This spring semester awardees are: Tessa Healy, Wilkinson Elementary, Megan Wink, Lakeview Elementary, Michelle Rivas, Gulf Gate Elementary, Dorothy Rieger, McIntosh Middle and Melissa Dweck, Sarasota High.

A surprise to the teachers, each winner was recognized by the superintendent, their principal, and members of the School District during a special ceremony at their schools. The recipients were commended for their innovative efforts in building positive cultural changes at their schools—among their students and peers. All were recognized for the lasting impact they have on their students. 

Gulf Gate Elementary teacher Michelle Rivas receives Barancik Foundation’s Ripple Effect award in front of her class.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation has selected 24 participants from across the region for its 2022 Gulf Coast Leadership Institute. Through this annual initiative, the foundation provides intensive, high-quality leadership training designed to identify, develop, and connect a diverse and growing group of aspiring community leaders. Class members will take part in seven training sessions from May through June conducted by the acclaimed Leadership Development Institute of Eckerd College. Gulf Coast provides all training and resources at no cost to participants in exchange for their commitment to use their new skills to benefit the community.

The 24 participants selected for the 2022 Gulf Coast Leadership Institute are:
Sara Brunow, Muriel O’Neil Education & Engagement Director, Asolo Repertory Theatre; Jennifer Bushinger-Ortiz, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Loveland Center, Inc.; Shelley Cairo, Financial Advisor-Private Client Group, Truist Investment Services, Inc.; Robyn Citrin, Board Trustee/President, Hermitage Artist Retreat; Kelly M. Defebo, CMP, Director of Sales, Visit Sarasota County; Esther Dickmann, Client and Clinical Services Manager, Samaritan Counseling Services of the Gulf Coast; Kelly Duyn, Assistant Director of Education & Community Engagement, Venice Theatre; Cintia Elenstar, Program Director, UnidosNow; Jonathan Evans, Executive Director, Healthy Teens Coalition of Manatee Co., Inc.; Debbie Frank, Program Director, Friends of Boca Grande Community Center; Michelle Frau, Events and Membership Administrator, Ringling College Library Association; Jill Gomes, Director of Quality, Risk & Compliance, CenterPlace Health; Amy Helms, Human Resources Manager, Senior Friendship Centers; Scott Hinckley, CFRE, Account Director, Allegiance Group; Ben Jewell-Plocher, Education Director, Embracing Our Differences; Ashley Klearman, VP of Development, Hunters Point Pearl Homes and Marina; Heather Koester, President/Business Consulting Strategist, Koester Consulting Group; Michael (Mike) McLaughlin, Senior Vice President for Horticulture, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens; Laura Randall, CFRE, Senior Director of Development, Visible Men Academy; Travis Ray, Associate Managing Director, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe; Clara Reynardus de Villanueva, Director of Development Sarasota-Manatee Campus and Latino Scholarship Program, University of South Florida; Mary Smedley, Managing Broker, Michael Saunders & Co. Englewood/Boca Grande offices; Amanda Sweet, Event Coordinator, Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy; and, Kayden Jeanne Stephen Taylor, HOPWA Housing Coordinator, CAN Community Health.

This is the 14th year that Gulf Coast Community Foundation has offered the Gulf Coast Leadership Institute. In all, over 300 community members have completed the training provided through this leadership-development initiative. Many continue to work together on civic initiatives and community-improvement projects, as well as participate in periodic learning and reunion opportunities offered to Gulf Coast Leadership Institute alumni. 

As we honor all the fallen service members, including those lost to mental health challenges such as suicide, local veteran’s nonprofit Operation Warrior Resolution has recently expanded its capacity to provide innovative solutions to heal trauma and PTSD. The organization has added more practitioners to its team and brought specialized training to the Sarasota-Manatee area to meet the growing need for mental health support.

OWR, an organization that provides holistic treatments for veterans and their families, received funding to train its practitioners in brain-based healing and optimization through The Cortina Method, created by Michael Cortina, OWR’s new Chief Clinical Officer. The revolutionary method for trauma and PTSD survivors uses modalities like Rapid Resolution Therapy (RRT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming, memory reconsolidation, and life transformation programs that provide essential healing solutions in the short and long term.

"When someone is struggling with processing their past trauma, often the last thing they want to do is relive those stressful experiences,” says Zach Garretson, a local Air Force veteran. “Operation Warrior Resolution’s approach has set me free from those traumatic memories without years of talk therapy, where I felt like I was talking in circles. This new resolution was quick and painless.”

Thanks to a $150,000 grant from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation earlier this year, OWR began the year-long process of training their current and new practitioners to serve the growing number of veterans and their family members in need of trauma resolution services. The first ten trainees have started their journey, with ten more participants beginning theirs in October. Funding has also increased the organization’s ability to quickly and effectively respond to any veteran in need of trauma resolution support to transform them into a life of health and wholeness. 

The Players Centre for Performing Arts presents the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play Rabbit Hole at Studio 1130 located in the Crossings at Siesta Key mall (3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239) June 8-19, 2022. In 2020, at the top of the pandemic Rabbit Hole was slated to run in the Backstage at The Players series under the direction of veteran of the Sarasota stage, Helen Holliday. Unfortunately, the show opened and closed the same day due to the onslaught of Covid-19. The Players Centre is happy to finally produce this wonderful work. Holliday sadly passed away earlier this year. New Artistic Director Lee Gundersheimer has taken the reigns. Holliday was a director of many past productions of The Players Centre, appearing in productions herself, and in many across the city from Manatee Performing Arts Center to the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre. This production is dedicated to her memory. 

Becca and Howie Corbett have a picture-perfect family life in the suburbs of New York until a random, tragic accident takes the life of their four-year old son. Soon after, Becca’s younger, irresponsible sister, Izzy, announces that she is pregnant. As Becca and Howie grow apart, Becca’s mother, Nat, badgers Becca about her grieving process, and Jason, the young driver who killed their son, continually shows up to ask forgiveness, the group is on a bumpy road to healing with no road map in sight. Rabbit Hole delves into the complexity of a family navigating deep grief and learning what it means to live a fruitful life when things fall apart.

 

Crossings at Siesta Key, Studio 1130, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239