Report: Safety Net hospitals top statewide, national Match Rates

Florida hospitals have dramatically increased the number of available and filled residency positions in recent years, according to a new report from the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida.

The report, Florida Hospital GME Match Rates & Quality, provides a data-based assessment of the quality of Florida’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs. Among the findings: More medical school graduates are choosing to do their residency at Safety Net Hospitals over any other type of Florida hospital.

“Hospitals in Florida have made enormous strides in increasing the number of medical residents each year. Our members are the top hospitals in the state and the country, so it is no surprise that more physicians-in-training are choosing to do their residency programs with us over any other place,” said SNHAF CEO Justin Senior.

“What is most exciting is not only that we get to keep top talent in Florida, but also that the more we train residents here, the more we will be able to head off Florida’s projected shortfall in physicians predicted for 2035. Florida is among the Top 4 states in the nation for retaining physicians who do their residency here. That is worth bragging about.”

The report reveals that Safety Net Hospital Alliance members’ Match Rate — a measurement of hospitals’ success in filling their empty residency slots — is significantly higher than Florida’s overall Match Rate and higher than the national Match Rate. National research has shown that high Match Rates correlate with high quality in a hospital program.

Data for 2020-2024 shows Safety Net Hospital Alliance members matched with 6,632 new residents, filling 93.8% of their resident slots, putting Alliance members more than six points above the statewide Match Rate of 87.18%.

Looking only at 2024 data, Alliance members had a 91.50% Match Rate, besting the state rate of 86.48% and national rate of 91.24%.

Six of the eight Florida hospitals producing over 350 Matches, and eight of the 13 hospitals producing over 200 Matches are Safety Net Alliance members. The report also found that four of the 10 hospitals achieving a 100% Match Rate every year while operating more than one GME program are are Safety Net Alliance members that began providing GME in the last 10 years. Further, 12 of the 13 hospitals producing over 200 Matches were not-for-profit or public hospitals.

“In the GME Match process, medical school graduates select the hospital GME programs where they hope to train; at the same time hospitals are identifying the medical school graduates they would like to accept into their GME programs. We know that the quality level of a hospital’s GME program is the main thing medical school graduates consider when preparing the list of the hospitals where they hope train. It’s something to celebrate that our member hospitals’ GME programs are highly sought-after and produce the highest Match Rates year after year,” SNHAF President & COO Lindy Kennedy said.

Senior added, “Florida policy makers have proven that investing in GME increases the number of doctors providing care to Floridians. When this investment began in 2014, the number of GME residency slots had consistently hovered at 3,000 FTEs each year. Over the last 10 years that number has more than doubled as there are now over 7,150 new doctor training slots in Florida.”

Safety Net Hospital Alliance members have contributed more than $1 billion to state coffers to help pay for GME programs. Thus far, Safety Net Hospital Alliance members have voluntarily paid for the creation of 2,873 new doctor training slots at hospitals across the state.

Last spring, the Safety Net Hospital Alliance announced the creation of 663 new GME physician training slots via the GME Startup Bonus Program, a program that was founded in 2015 and primarily funded by two Safety Net Hospital Alliance members — UF Health Shands and Jackson Health System. The program has added GME slots at Safety Net members and non-members alike.

In addition to UF Health and Jackson Health, Safety Net Hospital Alliance members include Ascension Florida, Broward Health, Halifax Health, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Lee Health, Memorial Healthcare System, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Orlando Health, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and Tampa General Hospital.