Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation recently awarded three grants totaling more than $1 million to Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. These grants will help SMH purchase a pharmacy robotics system, implement a clinical trial management system for the Women’s Cancer Care program, and expand the Restore and Empower through Nutrition, Exercise and Wellness (RENEW) program to the community.

A grant of $845,000 was awarded to help renovate the SMH Sarasota pharmacy and purchase an automated pharmacy storage system and software. The fully automated medication storage and retrieval system creates efficiencies that reduce the time pharmacy staff spends locating and verifying medications, and increases the time they can spend caring for patients.

A grant of $120,000 was awarded to the Women’s Cancer Care Program to implement a clinical trial management system for active studies conducted by the SMH clinical research team. The RealTime Clinical Trial Management System provides the tools and accessibility needed to cover all areas of research and trial data storage.

Finally, a grant of $117,000 was awarded to help the Restore and Empower through Nutrition, Exercise and Wellness (RENEW) program, formerly an SMH employee wellness program, expand to Sarasota County residents. RENEW helps participants reduce risk factors for chronic disease, improves quality of life and decreases medication demands. The funding will help support hiring of additional dietitians and wellness coaches, as well as the purchase of FitBit activity trackers and the production of educational programing.