Mount Sinai hosts Sunset Soiree to connect with Key West community

White and soft pastel outfits filled the lawn at Casa Marina Key West as Mount Sinai used its second annual Sunset Soiree to do more than host a cocktail party. The gathering brought together senior leadership, physicians from Miami and Key West community members, underscoring a simple question with big consequences for Monroe County: who will provide care here, and what specialties and referral options will be available when residents need them?

Mount Sinai Medical Center says it is South Florida’s largest private, independent, not-for-profit teaching hospital, with more than 700 physicians, 3,700 employees and 500 volunteers. Its president and CEO is Gino R. Santorio. The health system first entered Key West in 2016 through Mount Sinai Cardiology of the Florida Keys, and it now lists multiple local sites, including specialty care at 3401 Northside Drive and primary care, walk-in care and diagnostic services at 2505 Flagler Ave. and 2506 N. Roosevelt Blvd.

That footprint matters because the Lower Florida Keys Hospital District board is preparing to seek proposals from health-care companies interested in operating Lower Keys Medical Center, where the current lease runs through April 2029. The district is an independent special district created by the Florida Legislature in 1967, and its board voted in January 2026 to commission a facility-condition assessment and move ahead with a request-for-proposals process. The board is chaired by Erica Sterling and vice-chaired by Nancy Swift; its public members include Mary Chambers, James Muir, Mary Spottswood, Lesley Thompson, Richard Toppino and Stephen Hammond.

Interest in the hospital has already been public. In March 2025, Baptist Health, Mount Sinai Medical Center and Tampa General Hospital were among the systems that said they wanted to run Lower Keys Medical Center when the current agreement ends. Community Health Systems, the current operator, sought an early renewal and later unveiled a more than $350 million investment proposal to keep care in the Keys. Our Hospital Key West said a February 2026 facility report identified about $2.4 million in deferred maintenance.

Against that backdrop, Mount Sinai’s Sunset Soiree looked less like a social flourish than a strategic introduction. By bringing physicians and executives face-to-face with local leaders and residents, the hospital system was making its case for trust in a small county where access to specialty care often means long travel and delayed treatment. For Monroe County, the question is not just which logo appears on the building in 2029, but whether the next chapter brings more local options for cardiology, urology, vascular surgery and other services that Keys patients now must often leave the island to find.