USF College of Nursing, USF Sarasota-Manatee, and Sarasota Memorial Health Care System have Tremendous Impact in Sarasota-Manatee

Feb. 4, 2013 – In the past 40 years, more than $752 million more dollars has been put into the Sarasota-Manatee economy and more than 5.2 million more patients have been treated thanks to the unique partnership among the University of South Florida College of Nursing, USF Sarasota-Manatee, and Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. 

Central to the success is the fact that USF has awarded 852 degrees in nursing at the baccalaureate, masters and doctoral levels to students from the Sarasota-Manatee area.

To recognize the partnership’s significant impact, USF College of Nursing Dean Dr. Dianne Morrison-Beedy, Sarasota Memorial President & CEO Gwen MacKenzie, and USF Sarasota-Manatee Regional Chancellor Dr. Arthur Guilford, met Jan. 31 at Sarasota Memorial.

“Our powerful partnership has made a tremendous impact on the Sarasota-Manatee area in both money and health,” said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, WHNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, dean of the USF College of Nursing and senior associate vice president of USF Health. “This collaboration in wellness, education and research will benefit every member of the community as we continue working together.”

The opportunity for the USF College of Nursing to impact healthcare in Sarasota-Manatee was assured when USF Sarasota-Manatee was established in 1975, providing many university-level resources locally to students and valuable clinical experiences from nearby Sarasota Memorial Health Care System.  Some additional partnership highlights include:

• USF College of Nursing partnered with Sarasota Memorial Health Care System on a grant to conduct distance learning for registered nurses seeking bachelors and master’s degrees.
• USF nursing PhD students have partnered with Sarasota Memorial Health Care System to aid in developing a research program, a benchmark of magnet hospitals like Sarasota Memorial.
• The Lewis and Leona Hughes Endowed Chair in Nursing Science and the Lyall and Beatrice Thompson Nursing Professorship in Oncology were created by engaged members of the Sarasota-Manatee community inspired by the success of this unique partnership. 
• More recently the USF College of Nursing expanded by adding a cohort of traditional baccalaureate nursing students based at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System for their clinical experiences. 
• The USF College of Nursing supported the USF Sarasota/Manatee Blueprint for Health Professions Education at USF Sarasota/Manatee.
• USF College of Nursing has provided education at all levels to 159 nursing staff from Sarasota Memorial Health Care System over the past five years.
• Currently, the College’s efforts to meet Institute of Medicine goals to reach 80 percent of RN’s with BS degree or higher by 2020 has resulted in 48 USF nursing students being placed at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, and 210 Sarasota-Manatee residents enrolling in USF Nursing baccalaureate, masters and doctoral programs.

“We are proud to support the USF College of Nursing and share our clinical strengths, training and research initiatives with a top-notch academic team,” said Gwen MacKenzie, president and CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. “Working together, we are providing student nurses with the hands-on experience and training they will need to master the challenges of tomorrow.”

“USF Sarasota-Manatee is proud to be a part of providing our communities with this high level collaborative and educational opportunity,” said Dr. Arthur Guilford, regional chancellorfor USF Sarasota-Manatee. “The access to USF College of Nursing’s unique Clinical Collaborative model is one important way we are producing exceptionally skilled medical professionals that are so critical to the delivery of 21st Century health care in our region.”

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities.  For more information visit: health.usf.edu/nursing

-USF Sarasota-Manatee-

USF Sarasota-Manatee is a comprehensive, four-year university for those interested in pursuing a baccalaureate or master’s degree, professional certification, or continuing education credit.  USFSM offers the prestige of a nationally ranked research university with the convenience of a hometown location, including classes in North Port and Manatee County. For more information visit: www.usfsm.edu

– Sarasota Memorial Health Care System-

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of inpatient, outpatient and extended care services, with more than 800,000 patient visits a year. Sarasota Memorial’s 806-bed acute care hospital has been recognized repeatedly as one of the nation’s largest, safest and best, with superior patient outcomes and a complete continuum of outpatient services– from urgent care clinics and physician groups, laboratory and diagnostic imaging centers, to home health and skilled nursing & rehabilitation. Sarasota Memorial is the only hospital in the Suncoast region (Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties) ever to rank in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” and HealthGrades “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” lists. Strategic partnerships with a number of academic medical institutions bring teaching, research and new treatments to our community. In addition to the BayCare alliance, some of our other affiliations include: All Children’s Hospital-Hopkins (pediatric care); Florida State University (medical students); USF College of Nursing (nursing students); and Moffitt Cancer Center (complex cancer care and clinical trials).For more information visit: www.smh.com