The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services this year awarded five-star ratings to only 52 hospitals in the country. But Sarasota serves as home to one of them. Sarasota Memorial Hospital for the fifth consecutive rating period in a row won the top rating. The Sarasota hospital was the only one in Florida to earn a 5-star rating from CMS.

Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder credited his staff with the honor. “From our unpaid Hospital Board to our front-line staff, physicians, volunteers and leaders, there’s a strong sense of community and responsibility that drives everything we do,” Verinder says. “This award is a reflection of the entire team’s dedication to providing the highest quality care to the community and people we serve.”

The rating puts SMH in the top 8 percent of hospitals nationwide. Kim Savage, SMH spokeswoman, says the hospital has a running goal to stay in the top 10 percent. The rating looks at a host of indicators, reported on a monthly, weekly and in some cases daily basis. The CMS rating in particular looks at mortality, readmission and infection rates, among other benchmarks.

Doctor’s Hospital of Sarasota also ranked high, getting a four-star rating. Executives there stressed the measure was one of many used to assess hospital quality throughout the nation.

“The CMS star rating system is one of many quality measurements we use in our continual effort to maintain and improve the quality of medical care we provide,” says Robert Meade, CEO, Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. “We are proud to have earned the Leapfrog A Rating for safety nine times in row. Our hardworking staff and physicians are committed to delivering exceptional and personalized care to our community.”

Similarly, SMH notes it was recently named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by IBM Watson Health.

CMS issues 3-star ratings to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center and Englewood Community Hospital, a 2-star rating to Blake Medical Center and a 1-star rating to Manatee Memorial Hospital and Venice Regional Bayfront Health. 

In partnership with the Ringling Museum and on March 7, Moving Ethos dance company teams up with spoken word artist Cedric Hameed for a special collaborative performance, entitled Spoken Word, examining the issue of homelessness.

Leah Verier-Dunn, artistic director and cofounder of Moving Ethos, wanted to select an issue that affects Sarasota daily. “We wanted to find engagements that aren't only meaningful to us,” Verier-Dunn says, “but we felt were actually going to have an impact.” Collaborating with Hameed stems from the importance of working together as a community. “Anytime we get the chance to collaborate with other people in town,” says Verier-Dunn, “it also makes the voice of the statements louder.”

Booker High School will start the event with a musical performance from the students, inspired by ongoing discussions about homelessness in the community. Afterward, Hameed will ask questions of the audience addressing and engaging the topic, quickly creating a spoken word performance centered around their responses. Alongside, Moving Ethos will improvise a moving piece using Hameed’s words as accompaniment. No small feat, but the company prepares as it can. “We give ourselves different boundaries to stay within,” says Verier-Dunn, “in order to get the point across.” The greater question will be how the performance comes together as a whole. “The chance-taking is moreso in how will it all work together,” she says, “or how we will work with each other in this type of setting.”

In the end, Verier-Dunn hopes the gallery performance leads to some sort of community action. “My hope always is that it initiates some kind of conversation and it makes peoples’ minds work,” she says. “Is there a change they can make? Is there a hand to help? What change can they initiate to move themselves forward?”

Spoken Word comes to the Ringling Museum on March 7. 

Pictured: A member of Moving Ethos practices for the performance at Ringling Museum. Photo courtesy of Moving Ethos.

The latest in a decades-long record of creating standards setting residential and resort environments along Florida’s west coast, Auteur is the result of a partnership between Sarasota’s Ascentia Development Group (ADG) and GDI. “We wanted a lifestyle that fosters vibrant connections to the “New Sarasota,” notes the development team. “The cutting-edge cultural, culinary, fashion, and outdoor recreational scenes that surround Auteur at The Bay, Quay Sarasota, and Downtown are all within walking distance. Auteur’s programming, services and amenities will feature it all.” ADG President & Partner, Jay Tallman says, “The vision for Auteur led us to look beyond the usual resources and recruit the amazing ForrestPerkins to help create interiors, amenities and programming unlike any Sarasota has seen before.”  

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With more than 10.4 million residential pools and 309,200 public swimming pools in the United States, especially concentrated in the Sun Belt region, homeowners and businesses alike are constantly looking for ways to maintain and protect their pools at an affordable price. To meet this growing demand, Poolwerx, a leading pool service franchise with more than 25 years of experience in the pool and spa industry, is expanding its business to North Sarasota, serving Sarasota, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch areas. Managing these territories are Poolwerx newest franchise owners, husband and wife duo Amy and Stephen Schroeder. In addition to its fleet of mobile service and repair vehicles, Poolwerx Sarasota will have its grand opening at a new retail location located at 8436 North Lockwood Ridge Road on March 15 from 12pm to 5pm. 

Poolwerx

Gulf Coast Community Foundation is accepting applications for the 2019 Gulf Coast Leadership Institute. The deadline to apply for this regional leadership-development program is Friday, March 15, at 11:59pm. Gulf Coast Leadership Institute is designed to identify, develop and connect aspiring and experienced leaders across the Gulf Coast region, from Boca Grande to Manatee County. Gulf Coast Community Foundation will select up to 26 individuals to take part in the 2019 class, which consists of seven training sessions from late April through late June. The foundation has commissioned the Leadership Development Institute of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg to provide this comprehensive training. Gulf Coast offers all training and resources at no cost to selected participants in exchange for their commitment to use their new skills for the long-term benefit of the community through service.

Selection criteria include leadership potential and participation in community and professional organizations. Professionals as well as community volunteers of all ages are encouraged to apply. In all, more than 300 community members have completed this leadership training to date. To learn more and complete the application, go to the website below. 

Gulf Coast Leadership Institute

Home Helpers, a provider of senior care and non-medical in-home care, has named Joshua Salka as its new community liaison. Salka will represent the Home Helpers of Bradenton office at 4230 59th St W in Bradenton, as well as the Home Helpers Home Health office in Tampa. He brings senior care marketing experience, particularly in-home care, and is a military veteran. He will work with Home Helpers to provide service to the Manatee County and Hillsborough County communities. 

Home Helpers