As Tidewell Hospice prepares to celebrate 40 years serving the Suncoast, now is a good time to reflect on our miraculous story. Tidewell has grown from a staff of one, tucked away in rented office space at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, to one of the 10 largest not-for-profit hospices in the United States. Tidewell delivers care, comfort and compassion to more than 1,000 patients and their loved ones daily in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. Through holding company Stratum Health System, Tidewell is part of a healthcare continuum that connects people to care needed during the final third of life.

1980: Conceived as a predominantly volunteer organization by a small community group, Hospice of Sarasota County opens with one paid employee: nurse Stella Grant, who embarks on a 35-year hospice career.

1993: After expanding into Manatee County, the renamed Hospice of Southwest Florida opens its first hospice house in Venice. Today, Tidewell operates eight hospice houses across the Suncoast.

2005: Serving 6,000 patients annually, Hospice of Southwest Florida becomes Tidewell Hospice and Palliative Care (later tweaked to Tidewell Hospice). The name represents life’s ebb and flow and our coastal lifestyle.

2015: Tidewell, serving 9,000 patients annually, creates Stratum Health System, a company built on Tidewell’s reputation that incorporates affiliate organizations to care for people in the final third of life. 

5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34238  
(855) 843-3935  
tidewellhospice.org