Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, recently named Florida’s top employer for women by Forbes, has earned another national honor.
Sarasota Memorial’s Rehabilitation Pavilion has been recognized as being among America’s Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers for 2026 by Newsweek.
The annual ranking, announced Aug. 27, recognizes the top 330 inpatient physical rehabilitation centers in the United States from among more than 1,100 facilities nationwide.
“It’s an honor to see our rehabilitation team recognized for the difference they make in the lives of our patients,” Maria DeCarlo, vice president of Sarasota Memorial Post-Acute and Rehabilitation Services, said in a prepared statement. “Rehabilitation is about so much more than recovery from an illness
or injury. It’s about helping people regain their independence, rebuild their confidence and return to the people, activities and lives that matter most to them.”
Newsweek, in partnership with global data intelligence firm Statista, ranked rehabilitation centers based on quality measures, accreditation and feedback from medical experts and patients.
What services are offered at the rehabilitation pavilion?
The Rehabilitation Pavilion offers patients individualized care from a hospital-based, multidisciplinary team that includes rehabilitation physicians, physical, occupational and speech therapists, as well as specially trained and certified rehabilitation nurses and technologists.
The team develops personalized treatment plans to help patients restore function, mobility and quality of life.
The Rehabilitation Pavilion on the SMH-Sarasota campus offers a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services, supporting patients throughout their recovery journey.
That pavilion is expanding from 60 to 65 beds, while SMH is also building a new four-story, 50-bed rehabilitation pavilion at the Sarasota Memorial Venice campus.
The Venice location is scheduled to open in the summer of 2028.
It is being built with extra shell space that would allow it to expand to 75 beds in the future.
The Newsweek recognition adds to Sarasota Memorial’s record of quality and clinical excellence.
Earlier this year, U.S. News & World Report rated SMH among the nation’s high-performing hospitals for specialized rehabilitation care and recognized the Sarasota Memorial Nursing & Rehabilitation Center among the nation’s best nursing homes for both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care.
Both Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Sarasota and Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice have earned the highest 5-Star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
SMH-Sarasota is the only hospital in Florida — and one of just 11 nationwide — to have earned a perfect 5-Star CMS rating every year since the federal program began in 2016.
For more information about Sarasota Memorial’s Rehabilitation Services, visitsmh.com/rehab.
Earle Kimel primarily covers local governments in Sarasota County as well as land development and environmental issues for the Herald-Tribune. Follow him on Facebook, and X. He can be reached by email at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota rehab center earns prestigious national recognition
