A primary care company with outpatient centers in nine metropolitan areas in the state, including in Southwest Florida, is terminating more than 200 workers statewide, according to records.
Sanitas Medical Center filed a WARN notice to the Florida Department of Commerce June 9 of the mass layoffs, totaling 211 workers, due to company restructuring and budgetary restrictions.
In Southwest Florida, three workers in Fort Myers and two in Naples are being terminated.
Sanitas has two medical center locations in Naples and one in Fort Myers, its website says.
Job losses in health care fields in 2026 have been seen as inevitable, according to analysts.
The federal government’s decision to not renew enhanced premiums this year to patients enrolled in Affordable Care Act insurance plans is expected to cause a slowdown in foot traffic in medical centers due to patients losing their insurance.
A Sanitas Medical Center location in Tallahassee Florida. The company has centers in nine metropolitan regions in Florida, offering an array of medical services.
Other locations for Sanitas Medical terminations are Tallahassee, Tampa, Palm Beach, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, the notice said.
More than half of the layoffs involve 126 employees who are based in Miami. The company headquarters appears to be in Doral.
The employees terminated run the gamut from medical assistants to nurse practitioners; many are remote employees.
The Commonwealth Fund published a report last year that 154,000 jobs would be lost in 2026 alone in health care and ultimately reach 339,000. Of those, roughly 57,000 would be in Florida.
“These changes are expected to be permanent,” Sanitas Medical said in the WARN notice.
Officials at the company could not be reached for comment.
What to know about Sanitas
The company website says Sanitas Medical provides primary care, advanced urgent care, specialty care, telehealth services along with walk-in services, and general vaccinations.
“At Sanitas, we have everything you need to keep your family safe and healthy,” according to the website.
The company was founded in Colombia in 1980 and expanded to the U.S. in 2014.
Today Sanitas Medical Centers are a joint venture between GuideWell, the parent company of Florida Blue and Keralty a multinational health organization.
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Liz Freeman is a health care reporter. Reach her by emailing lfreeman@naplesnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Sanitas Medical cuts 211 Florida workers at many of its metro sites