$435M Sarasota nonprofit plans relocation to Tampa

A $435 million nonprofit in Sarasota is picking up its headquarters and moving to Tampa.

The organization, CAN Community Health, plans to be relocated by the fall of 2024. The new headquarters will be inside the German American Club building in Ybor, a neighborhood northeast of downtown Tampa, according to a statement. CAN has co-owned the building with Metro Inclusive Health, another nonprofit in the area, since 2019. A property record for the building at 2105 N. Nebraska Ave. showed the sale price as $1.7 million. 

With the announcement, a CAN spokesperson says the nonprofit will acquire Metro’s half, as Metro is vacating the building.  

In 2018 CAN moved into its current headquarters, a 23,000-square-foot property on Fruitville Road, about halfway between downtown Sarasota and Interstate 75. The organization paid $4.8 million for the property and three acres surrounding it.

The move accomplishes a goal the nonprofit has had since 2021: unify its headquarters with one of its medical clinics. 

"Tampa Bay offers a place where our team members can easily travel in and out of all our current markets while providing an unparalleled, diverse, inclusive quality of life and favorable cost of living," CAN Chair Jackie Rogers says in the release.

Executives, senior and mid-level management will be housed in the new headquarters. The nonprofit’s medical center will also relocate to the new spot, continuing to provide primary care, mental health, nutrition and a dental clinic. The nationwide nonprofit, with a focus on helping people with HIV, Hepatitis C, STDs and other diseases, has been around since 1991.   

CAN’s revenue has grown quite a bit in the last few years, from $23 million to more than $435 million recorded in 2021, public records show. Part of that revenue growth stems from a federal drug-pricing program called 340B. 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.

In 2019, when Metro and CAN announced plans to purchase the building, the pair of nonprofits planned to transform the building into a state-of-the-art health center by adding three floors adjacent to the structure. 

"We are excited to make Tampa Bay our new home for our headquarters,” President and CEO Dr. Rishi Patel says in the release. “It is a pivotal move for our organization and a game changer for all our patients.

"We look forward to partnering with area specialty physicians to provide key services to our clients and the community. We want our clients to experience a true medical home. Not to have to worry about traveling to various offices for appointments. Instead, patients can visit their doctors and specialists while they are on campus," Patel adds.

Though plans to sell the current headquarters in Sarasota are in place, CAN will continue to expand its roots in Sarasota, the press release states, through housing the Susan Terry Foundation in its Sarasota Medical Center off 12th Street and Tuttle Avenue.