HCA Florida Memorial Hospital’s ECMO Awarded Silver Level Center on Path to Excellence

JACKSONVILLE, FL (October 14, 2025) - - HCA Florida Memorial Hospital is proud to share that it has earned the Silver Level Center on the Path to Excellence in Life Support Award from the international organization, ELSO (Extracorporeal Life Support Organization), in recognition of its work with ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation). ECMO is a life support technique that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs, providing oxygen to the blood and removing carbon dioxide. With more than 6,000 hospitals in the United States, there are only about 400 ECMO centers nationwide. The Excellence in Life Support Award recognizes centers like HCA Florida Memorial Hospital that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to evidence-based processes and quality measures, staff training and continuing education, patient satisfaction and ongoing clinical care.

"Our ECMO program started five years ago during the pandemic - during a national shortage of ECMO machines - we acquired one just at the right time," said Dale Mueller, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and Chief of Medical Staff at HCA Florida Memorial Hospital. "ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support available to patients experiencing acute failure of the cardio-respiratory system. ECMO allows time for the patient’s lungs or heart to heal over a period of time by using a heart-lung machine to oxygenate the blood outside the body."

"We are honored to be the recipient of such a prestigious award regarding the critical care services and life support equipment and training provided to our patients at our hospital,” said Donna Wagner, Vice President of Cardiovascular, Critical Care and Neurosciences at HCA Florida Memorial Hospital. “The ECMO Center accomplishments reflect the dedication to advancing health care that we continuously strive to achieve at Memorial Hospital.”

ELSO is an international nonprofit consortium of health care institutions, researchers, and industry partners who support those who deliver ECMO. ELSO is dedicated to developing and evaluating novel therapies to support failing organ systems.

About HCA Florida Memorial Hospital – HCA Florida Memorial Hospital is part of Florida’s largest healthcare system, HCA Florida Healthcare, comprising of 49 hospitals, 84,000 employees and 11,000 physicians operating from more than 650 care sites, over 50 urgent care centers, and more than 350 physician practices and freestanding emergency rooms. HCA Florida Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville is a full service, acute care, Level II Trauma hospital, DNV Comprehensive Stroke Center certified, with 454 inpatient beds, a dedicated Women’s Center, and four freestanding emergency rooms (on Atlantic Blvd. at Kernan Blvd. and on San Jose Blvd. at I-295 in Mandarin in Jacksonville, at Doctors Village Drive in Julington Creek in St. Johns County, and in Yulee at the northeast corner of I-95 and SR 200 in Nassau County). Fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), HCA Florida Memorial Hospital is ranked as one of the top hospitals in the country for heart, lung and surgical care. It was named America’s 250 Best Hospitals 2025 by Healthgrades, putting it the top 5% nationwide for overall clinical performance, and named America’s 100 Best Orthopedic Surgery Hospitals 2025 also by Healthgrades. For more information, visit: HCAFloridahealthcare.com.