Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Health Care System plans to invest $160 million over the next five years to implement a new Epic EHR — a move its CIO says will yield returns through greater workflow efficiency, enhanced patient safety, and a better clinician experience, according to comments shared with Becker’s.
The two-hospital, $2.1 billion public health system began its Epic implementation in June and expects to go live enterprise-wide in October 2026.
“In terms of what this means for our staff, how they work, and for our community — in access, data, and information sharing — you really can’t put a price on it,” said CIO Pam Ramhofer, who is co-sponsoring the initiative with the system’s COO.
Ramhofer noted that Sarasota Memorial has come a long way since its first EHR rollout in the late 1990s, when staff had to be taught basic computer skills. Today, clinicians are eager for the upgrade. Many physicians and nurses already train on Epic, so having the same system will help attract new talent. “They’re pushing technology to move faster and include more tools,” she said. “It’s a completely different environment now.”
The new system will also include AI-powered features, such as ambient clinical documentation. “I think we’re benefiting from coming in later,” Ramhofer added. “We’ll be launching the EHR with the latest and greatest technology, incorporating AI-enabled workflows from the start.”
Sarasota Memorial plans to join Epic’s Cosmos research network, which houses anonymized data from more than 300 million unique patient records. “Our physicians, research teams, and medical residents are going to be thrilled to have access to that,” said CIO Pam Ramhofer.
The health system has been exploring a new EHR for nearly a decade after outgrowing its current platform. By moving to Epic, Sarasota Memorial will consolidate three patient portals into one and retire about 25% of its 380 applications — a change expected to boost cybersecurity by shrinking its digital footprint.
Roughly 1,000 staff members are involved in the Epic project, including 30 newly hired full-time employees dedicated to the implementation. The organization has also enlisted project management consultants to support the effort.
“We try to rely on our own team as much as possible because building the system provides valuable institutional knowledge — and we don’t want that walking out the door,” Ramhofer said.
While software expenses will remain comparable to current costs, most of the $160 million investment will go toward implementation. Ramhofer noted that the benefits won’t necessarily show up as direct financial gains but will include major improvements in safety and efficiency.
“For example, every time we transfer a patient, staff currently have to record that move in three separate systems,” she explained. “With Epic, that process will become seamless — either done automatically or in just one place. Eliminating all those extra logins and data searches will create significant efficiencies across the organization.”
The Epic implementation marks the largest IT initiative in Pam Ramhofer’s 40-year tenure at Sarasota Memorial — and one of the organization’s most significant capital investments overall. “In terms of impact, it’s number one,” she said. “Around 80 to 90 percent of our staff will be affected in some way, along with the entire community that depends on our services.”
“It’s been a long journey, and we’re thrilled to be at this stage,” Ramhofer added. “Launching such a large system all at once — a true ‘big bang’ approach — can be intimidating, and we’re taking every precaution to minimize surprises. But we’re confident we’ll come through it stronger and better than ever.”
