Sindicato Medico Do Rio Grande Do Sul

What Sindicato Medico Do Rio Grande Do Sul does

Sindicato Médico do Rio Grande do Sul (Simers) is a non-profit medical union founded in 1930 and headquartered in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It holds the "carta sindical" granted in 1938, which confers the exclusive legal standing to represent physicians in the state in collective bargaining, labor disputes, and class actions. The organization serves more than 16,000 physician members and is described as the largest medical union in Latin America. Its physical footprint comprises the Porto Alegre headquarters and 45+ delegate offices distributed across municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul.

Simers operates the SIM Serviços platform, a six-line service bundle spanning legal support (SIM Jurídico), accounting (SIM Contábil), health plans (SIM Saúde), partner-discount agreements (SIM Convênios), career services (SIM Carreiras), and insurance (SIM Seguros). It also runs the Núcleo Acadêmico Simers (NAS), a student-membership tier priced at R$15 per month, and the Clube de Vantagens, a network of more than 200 partner establishments offering consumer discounts. Member engagement is delivered through a website portal, iOS and Android mobile applications, a podcast, and a radio channel. Specialty nuclei organize member activity around medical disciplines. Management is governed by an elected board; the 2025/2027 term is led by President Marcelo Marsillac Matias, and the organization maintains a dedicated Diretoria de Políticas Estratégicas created in 2022.

The business model is funded primarily through recurring monthly membership dues paid by individual physicians, augmented by fees from SIM Serviços lines and partner-related revenue. The union is ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 certified. In 2026, Hospital São Paulo was detached from the Fundação Araucária and returned to direct administration, representing a material restructuring of the union's hospital-asset footprint.

Name

Sindicato Medico Do Rio Grande Do Sul

Legal name

Sindicato Médico do Rio Grande do Sul

Website

https://simers.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1930

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Sindicato Médico do Rio Grande do Sul (Simers) is a non-profit medical union founded in 1930 that represents over 16,000 physicians in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, providing legal protection, collective bargaining, and an integrated portfolio of professional services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Porto Alegre

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Member Dues (Mensalidade Associativa): Monthly membership fees paid by physicians and medical students. Regular members pay standard dues; recent graduates receive 50% discount for 3 years; medical residents receive 50% discount during residency program. Academic members (NAS) pay R$15/month.
2. Supplementary Fee-Based Services: Additional paid services offered to members including: Unimed health plans, Uniodonto dental plans, Uniair aeromedical transport (adherence fee), SIM Contábil (accounting), graphic services, insurance brokerage, and SIM Saúde Mental consultations. Fees vary per service.
3. Professional Services (SIM Serviços): Fee-based professional services including legal representation beyond union protection, tax advisory, income tax preparation, notary certification, and business opening services for medical practices.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Sindicato Médico do Rio Grande do Sul (Simers) is a non-profit medical union founded in 1930 that represents and serves more than 16,000 physicians in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It delivers professional representation, labor/collective bargaining support, legal protection, and an integrated services platform (SIM Serviços) covering accounting, health insurance, insurance, career support, and discounts for its physician members.

Product overview

Sindicato Médico do Rio Grande do Sul (Simers) operates as a medical union offering an integrated portfolio of services organized under the SIM brand. The core SIM Serviços platform combines six main service lines: SIM Jurídico (legal protection with 24-hour hotline), SIM Contábil (accounting and business licenses), SIM Saúde (health/dental insurance aggregation), SIM Convênios (partner discounts), SIM Carreiras (professional development and job marketplace), and SIM Seguros (insurance consultation). The organization also serves medical students through the Núcleo Acadêmico Simers (NAS) sub-brand at R$15/month, operates a registry of medical expert witnesses, maintains specialty-focused working groups, and provides confidential reporting channels for professional and ethics concerns. With over 16,000 physician members, the union operates regional delegations across 49 cities in Rio Grande do Sul.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SIM Serviços
• SIM Jurídico
• SIM Contábil
• SIM Saúde
• SIM Convênios
• SIM Carreiras
• SIM Seguros
• Núcleo Acadêmico Simers (NAS)
• Banco de Assistentes Técnicos em Perícias Médicas
• Clube Simers

Quantifiable outcome

• 16,000+ physicians represented across Rio Grande do Sul
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UnimedcoreOthersExclusive partnership providing Simers members with preferential health insurance plans through Unimed, with special discounts for transferring or enrolling in Unimed plans.
• UniodontocoreOthersDental plan partnership offering Master and Premium modality plans for members and their families at differentiated rates.
• UniaircoreOthersAeromedical transport service for inter-hospital patient transfers with specialized 24/7 emergency team available free to members with paid monthly adhesion. Dependent inclusion requires a separate monthly fee.
• GZH (GaúchaZH)minorOthersMembers receive free access to all GZH digital content and subscriber club discounts through the partnership.
• UnicredminorOthersCredit union partnership offering physicians loans and financing at differentiated rates.
• MedicinaNetminorOthersFree access to the largest medical content portal in Brazil, available exclusively to members.
• MUHM (Museu de História da Medicina)minorOthersSimers maintains a redirect/relationship with MUHM (Museum of Medical History), indicating a cultural/historical partnership. Simers developed a partnership with the SMED Training School through MUHM.
• Clube de Vantagens Simers Partners (200+ establishments)minorOthersOver 200 partner establishments across education, hospitality, restaurants, furniture, pharmacies, and other segments offering exclusive discounts to Simers members.
• BICIminorOthersDelivery and collection logistics company contracted to reduce CO2 emissions from transportation, supporting Simers' environmental sustainability goals.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• British Medical Association (BMA): UK trade union and professional body for doctors with collective bargaining, legal protection, and member services; functionally analogous to Simers as a membership organization for physicians that combines labor representation with service delivery.
• Australian Medical Association (AMA Australia): Australian national professional association for doctors with advocacy and member services; directly comparable to Simers as a membership-based body serving the medical profession.
• Canadian Medical Association (CMA): National physician association in Canada providing advocacy, professional development, and member services; comparable to Simers in mission and service-portfolio breadth.
• Sindicato dos Médicos do Estado de São Paulo (SIMESP): State-level medical union in São Paulo operating under the same Brazilian sindicato model as Simers, providing collective bargaining, legal defense, and member services to physicians — the closest functional analogue in another state.
• American Medical Association (AMA): U.S. national professional association representing physicians, providing advocacy, education, and member services; the most-cited international analogue to Simers' professional-representation model.
• Medical Protection Society (MPS): International medical defense organization providing legal protection and advice to physicians; closely comparable to Simers' SIM Jurídico legal-defense offering and overall membership-services model.
• Associação Médica Brasileira (AMB): National medical association in Brazil representing physicians across all states; comparable to Simers as a professional membership body serving physicians, but with national rather than state-level scope.
• German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer): National professional association representing physicians in Germany; functionally comparable to Simers as a physician membership body combining advocacy, professional standards, and member services.

Broad incumbents

• Conselho Federal de Medicina (CFM): Federal regulatory body for medical practice in Brazil; comparable to Simers in addressing physician professional concerns but operating nationally as a regulator rather than as a state-level labor union.

Regional players

• Conselho Regional de Medicina do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (CREMERS): State medical regulatory council governing physician licensing and ethics in the same geography as Simers; adjacent rather than directly competing since CREMERS is a regulator while Simers is a union, but they serve the same physician base in Rio Grande do Sul.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/simersnatv
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/simers-rs

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sindicato Medico Do Rio Grande Do Sul