Health Firm Moves To Sarasota From Venice
The parent company of Venice Regional Medical center will move its offices from Venice to Sarasota as part of an expansion for the company.
Health Management Associates Inc.’s move is expected to help keep 148 jobs and add 217 positions during the next two years, according to Mark Huey, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County.
The regional central business office in Sarasota will serve Health Management’s operations in Florida and elsewhere with back office functions such as billing, collections and other shared services, said lan Levine, Health Management senior vice president and president of the company’s Florida Group.
The office, which has been located in 10,000 square feet in Venice, will move to 28,500 square feet at 101 Arthur Andersen Parkway in Sarasota. Job candidates should consult the company’s website at www.hma.com/careers.
The company had considered other locations in the Southeast U.S. before the EDC, CareerEdge and Sarasota County Government negotiated for the office to expand in Sarasota County, the Economic Development Corp. announced in a press release Tuesday afternoon.
“The EDC is proud to be an integral part of coordinating the effort to keep Health Management’s central business office in Sarasota County,” Huey said. “Through close collaboration, the EDC, Sarasota County Government, and CareerEdge in partnership with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation substantially affected the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of employees in a positive way.”
Sarasota County Government approved up to $400,000 in performance-based incentives if the company adds 217 full-time employees with annual wages exceeding the county average.
“Health Management is committed to being a good corporate citizen, and we have truly loved being associated with our friends in Sarasota County,” Levine said in a press release. “As our company has added hospitals and other health care services, we evaluated several alternatives for the expansion of our central business office functions. We are pleased to be able to stay, and even expand, in Sarasota, and we thank the Sarasota County Commission and the EDC. Their efforts, combined with the business climate being championed by Governor Scott, helped to convince us that Sarasota County is the right location for our growth.”
In addition, the CareerEdge workforce funders’ collaborative has offered the company $100,000 in employee training assistance.
“Through our partnership with Gulf Coast Community Foundation, CareerEdge is happy to support the expansion and creation of new jobs through a $100,000 grant as part of a $300,000 training plan to support the economic development of Sarasota County, get our residents back to work and provide internal technical training to help support these new employees in their new roles,” said Mireya Eavey, CareerEdge executive director.
Health Management is the largest hospital system based in Florida. The Naples-based company has more than 45,000 employees, 10,000 affiliated physicians and 71 hospitals located in 15 states, Levine said.
In Florida, Health Management has more than 15,000 employees, with 1,000 located at Venice Regional Hospital and another 148 employees located at the central business office.
The company’s network of physician practices, Gulf Coast Medical Group, has 320 employees at 12 locations throughout Sarasota County.
“Creating and preserving jobs is a top economic priority for Sarasota County,” County Commission Chairwoman Christine Robinson said. “The county is using proven performance-based incentives to help keep companies like Health Management Associates that supply higher wage jobs for local residents in Sarasota County.”
