Thirty-seven hospitals in Florida were among hundreds across the country recognized for safety and patient experience in a new report.
Healthgrades, an online platform that helps people find and compare doctors, specialists and hospitals, announced Tuesday that 438 hospitals in 40 states met the criteria for its 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award. They represent the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for patient safety.
The hospitals in Florida receiving Patient Safety Excellence Awards include four hospitals in the top 5 percent nationally:
AdventHealth, OcalaAscension Sacred Heart, PensacolaDoctors Hospital, Coral GablesCleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, Vero Beach​​HCA Florida Aventura Hospital, AventuraHCA Florida Bayonet Point Hospital, HudsonHCA Florida Blake Hospital, BradentonHCA Florida Capital Hospital, TallahasseeHCA Florida Englewood Hospital, EnglewoodHCA Florida Fawcett Hospital, Port CharlotteHCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, Fort Walton BeachHCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital, Panama CityHCA Florida JFK Hospital, AtlantisHCA Florida Kendall Hospital, MiamiHCA Florida Lake City Hospital, Lake CityHCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital, Fort PierceHCA Florida Oak Hill Hospital, BrooksvilleHCA Florida Ocala Hospital, OcalaHCA Florida Orange Park Hospital, Orange ParkHCA Florida Osceola Hospital, KissimmeeHCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital, SarasotaHCA Florida South Shore Hospital, Sun City CenterHCA Florida South Tampa Hospital, TampaHCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital, Port St. LucieHCA Florida Trinity Hospital, TrinityHCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital, NicevilleHCA Florida West Hospital, PensacolaHCA Florida Westside Hospital, PlantationHCA Florida Woodmont Hospital, TamaracCape Canaveral Hospital, Cocoa BeachLarkin Hospital Palm Springs, HialeahMemorial Hospital, MiramarMemorial Regional Hospital, HollywoodSarasota Memorial Hospital Venice, North VeniceHialeah Hospital, HialeahMelbourne Regional Medical Center, MelbourneRockledge Regional Medical Center, Rockledge
Hospitals in the top 10 percent nationally include the following in Florida:
AdventHealth, New Smyrna BeachAdventHealth, ZephyrhillsBaptist Medical Center Beaches, Jacksonville BeachBethesda Hospital East, Boynton BeachMease Dunedin Hospital, DunedinMorton Plant North Bay Hospital, New Port RicheySt. Anthony’s Hospital, St. PetersburgHCA Florida Brandon Hospital, BrandonHCA Florida Highlands Hospital, SebringHCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital, SanfordHCA Florida Largo Hospital, LargoHCA Florida Palms West Hospital, LoxahatcheeHCA Florida Pasadena Hospital, South PasadenaHCA Florida Poinciana Hospital, KissimmeeOviedo Medical Center, OviedoPalm Bay Hospital, Palm BayMemorial Hospital, Pembroke PinesHCA Florida Lehigh Hospital, Lehigh AcresCoral Gables Hospital, Coral GablesPalmetto General Hospital, HialeahHoly Cross Hospital, Fort LauderdaleWellington Regional Medical Center, WellingtonUF Health the Villages Hospital, The VillagesAdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, Palm Coast
The Patient Safety Excellence Award is based on an analysis of federal hospital data that evaluates how well hospitals protect patients from serious complications during inpatient care. Healthgrades looked at 13 measures of patient safety, such as infections, surgical complications and other preventable problems.
To qualify for the award, hospitals must meet strict quality standards and show strong performance on most of those safety measures. They also cannot have any reported cases of a foreign object, such as a sponge or surgical tool, being left inside a patient during a procedure. In addition, hospitals must report data on most of the key safety indicators used to evaluate performance.
If all hospitals performed as well as the award winners, 100,819 patient safety events could have been avoided between 2022 and 2024, Healthgrades said in a news release. Patients treated in award-winning facilities were significantly less likely to experience the four most common patient safety accidents and medical errors, which represent a serious, preventable complication and account for 78 percent of all safety events.
In the award-winning hospitals:
An in-hospital fall resulting in a fracture was 52.4 percent less likely A collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest was 57.5 percent less likelyA catheter-related bloodstream infection acquired in the hospital was 67.8 percent less likelyA pressure or bed sore acquired in the hospital was 71.9 percent less likely
View the full Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient list and methodology on Healthgrades.