Healthcare is Foundational: Mike Valentino and the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation

By Ryan G. Van Cleave | February 2022

For more than 30 years, Mike Valentino and his wife, Karen, lived in New Jersey where he worked in the pharmaceutical industry. After Mike became CEO of a small startup company that eventually launched the hugely successful product Mucinex, they left the cold north to settle in Sarasota. “We loved it from the start, and we never looked back,” he says about that relocation in 2003.

There are dozens of other waterfront communities on the Gulf Coast that boast beautiful beaches and a great climate, Mike explains, but what drew him to Sarasota was the philanthropy. “We’ve got arts and culture and great institutions like the hospital because of philanthropy,” he says. “The community really supports those things.”

Neither Mike nor Karen were exposed to philanthropy at a young age. “We grew up with barely enough to keep our families going!” he says. But after joining the Sarasota community, they got involved and quickly met very generous people who modeled philanthropic behavior. “We lived in four or five major communities and never saw one that was built around philanthropy the way Sarasota was,” adds Karen. The Valentinos realized that when their fortunes turned positive, it became more and more important for them to give back. And that’s what they’ve been doing ever since.

In 2017, Mike eagerly became part of the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation board because he believes that outstanding healthcare is the cornerstone of a strong and vital community. This past October, he proudly became chairman of that board. Prior to that Mike joined the board of All Faiths Food Bank and worked with various nonprofits, while Karen became very involved with the Child Protection Agency, first as a volunteer, then a board member, and later as chair of their board. 

With his background in the medical field, Mike appreciates more than most what makes a hospital great. He’s quick to point out that Sarasota Memorial Hospital has been repeatedly recognized among Forbes/Watson Health and U.S. News & World Report’s top hospitals, and this year its cardiac and rehabilitation programs ranked in the top 50. It’s also the only hospital in Florida to earn a 5-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services since the federal hospital rating system launched in 2016. SMH has also received straight A’s since it began participating in Leapfrog’s hospital safety survey in 2016. “It’s the only local Florida hospital to consistently earn that type of quality award performance,” Mike said. “I don’t think enough people know that.”

For more than 45 years, Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation has been providing meaningful grants to enhance patient care, facilities, technology, and research at Sarasota Memorial, while also supporting good healthcare in the community in general. When asked about recent success stories of the Healthcare Foundation’s efforts, Mike has plenty of ready examples, such as the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute. “The idea is that when patients are stricken with cancer, they should be treated in their local community because all the data shows that if you can be around your family, friends, and support network, you do better,” Mike said. “With this new facility, the level of available care rivals that of the country’s best oncology centers, so people can get top-level treatment while staying close to home. The success of the Healthcare Foundation’s Leading with Care cancercampaign exemplifies how our donors come together to support critically important initiatives at SMH.”

Another Healthcare Foundation-supported success is the opening of Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice, a state-of-the-art facility that offers many of the same capabilities previously only available at the main campus. And there’s the planned Cornell Family Behavioral Health Pavilion which will be a 95,000-square-foot facility designed to offer a safe, healing environment for those who struggle with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. “This is an area that’s often ignored,” Mike says, “It’s a major need not only in our community but in our entire country. This initiative is going to make a real difference.”

For years, Mike and Karen supported dozens of worthwhile organizations, but they worried about their efforts becoming diluted, so they really committed to focusing on the things that meant the most to them. For Mike, it’s the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation, because he believes that there are few better ways to impact a community than to keep it healthy.

Mike adds that something people don’t always appreciate is that anyone can be philanthropic—it’s not just for people of extreme wealth. “Everybody has the ability to get behind things that are important to them that produce good in the community. Supporting things isn’t always with dollars. A meaningful impact can happen just as well through effort and participation.”

“I’m just a guy trying to do the best that I can in this life,” Mike says. Through his role with the Healthcare Foundation, his best efforts are making a real difference for us all.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation please visit smhf.org or call (941) 917-1286.