Geisinger and Lowe’s open worksite health clinic
Published: November 6, 2009
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Dianne Hickok is a certified registered nurse practitioner at CareWorks Convienent Health Care in Weis Market in Clarks Summit. Geisinger and Lowe's have announced the opening of a Care Works clinic at the Lowe's distribution center in Pittston.
Geisinger’s Careworks and Geisinger Health Plan announced the opening of a worksite primary care clinic in the Lowe’s regional distribution center in Pittston.
Careworks, a service of Geisinger Health System, will provide routine health care to Lowe’s employees free of charge. The Careworks clinic offers Lowe’s employees an alternative to crowded emergency rooms and urgent care centers for common medical problems, saving them lost time from work and out-of-pocket expenses. The clinic will be staffed by a certified physician assistant to treat common medical problems and write prescriptions when medically appropriate.
“Lowe’s employs approximately 800 people in the Pittston distribution center,” said Bob Ihrie, senior vice president of employee rewards and services for Lowe’s. “By offering a Careworks clinic free of charge to our employees, we are able to provide a convenient healthcare option while keeping medical care costs down.”
While this is its first employer-based clinic, Careworks has successfully opened five medical clinics inside Weis Markets. Delivering primary care where people work is one innovative way to address the issue of escalating health-care costs.
“We are taking our clinic business of offering convenient, affordable healthcare from grocery stores and applying it to the worksite” said Shawna Hernandez, project manager for Careworks. “It’s a win for Lowe’s and its employees.”
According to a 2009 report from New York-based Mercer, 10 percent of all employers surveyed are considering offering a primary care clinic. Among the reasons cited by employers for offering worksite clinics: 86 percent said it was as a convenience for their employees; 77 percent cited better access to preventive care; 75 percent said it was to encourage employees to make better use of health and wellness programs; and 74 percent said it was to control overall health-care spending.
