Health care provider trims 23% of workforce

SARASOTA — CAN Community Health, one of the largest HIV/AIDS treatment and care organizations in the country, has cut its staff by 23%, or 57 people. The move, say CAN officials in a statement, is a direct result of “increased expenses within service areas and the lack of grant funding.”

That funding is part of what’s called the 340B Federal Drug Discount Program. Under 340B, pharmaceutical companies sign an agreement with the government to provide discounts of at least 50% on medications to pre-approved agencies and health care providers, like CAN. Those agencies, to qualify for 340B, need to have the total funds to pay for the drugs — money that comes from reimbursements, grants and community donations. A third-party administrator holds those funds — and the organization can’t treat people without the money.

CAN has utilized the 340B program to treat thousands of additional patients in the last four years, with an operating budget that’s grown 386%, from $25.5 million in 2015 to $124 million last year. As in past years, CAN recently allocated resources to areas of high HIV/AIDS prevalence, including Miami, Pensacola and parts of Georgia and South Carolina, according to a statement.

But the organization was denied the grant funding in this most recent go-around, CAN President and CEO Rick Carlisle told the Business Observer in a March 6 interview. Without those funds, the organization can’t operate in those locations. Since some of the back-office work for those locations is done in CAN’s Sarasota headquarters, the staff cuts were made across many of the region’s clinics —  not just in the ones denied 340B funding. CAN, adds Carlisle in a statement, will appeal the grant denials and is still “aggressively pursuing a 340B qualification” in those markets.

CAN will provide job placement assistance and help employees through the transition, the release states. “The decision to right-size the organization was made after a long and careful review of the options, realizing that many good people would be affected,” Carlisle says in the statement. “This has been a tough decision and was not easily made. It was reviewed at the highest levels within the organization to make sure CAN is operating as efficiently and effectively as possible.

In addition to HIV/AIDS, CAN Community Health is also dedicated to the treatment, care and wellness of people living with hepatitis C and other STDs. It operates 34 clinics.