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Employee Wellness Clinic Model Spreading Across Rockford

Chase Cavanaugh/WNIJ
The City of Rockford's Wellness Clinic is located at the site of the old Fran Kraal car dealership.

When it comes to health benefits, employers typically have two options. Either they work with an insurance company to coordinate benefits or, as is the case with Rockford’s city government, the employer self-insures and takes responsibility for any claims made.

City officials noticed that, even with insurance and high-quality regional medical care, workers were still getting sick. Mayor Larry Morrissey says this led to an effort to improve employee health and wellness, keeping in mind the constraints of a municipal budget.

Credit Kimberly Bruce
Larry Morrissey is the mayor of Rockford.

“The only way we could legitimately commit to maintaining a healthy balance in our fund as well as improving the health and wellness of our employees," he said.  "It became increasingly clear that we’d have to take a deeper dive.”

The city worked with Rockford Consulting and Brokerage, a group that advises on employee benefits. They identified accessibility as an issue, particularly in the area of preventative care such as physical exams and immunizations. Consultant Ryan Brauns says the solution was opening a clinical facility that could give patients greater attention on-site.

Credit Chase Cavanaugh/WNIJ
Ryan Brauns is a senior consultant with Rockford Consulting & Brokerage.

“In a longer 25- or 30-minute visit, there’s a detailed history, there’s a lot of conversation between the clinician and the employee or their dependent. So the entire model is really different than what you would see in the typical clinic environment.”

The city singled out the site of the old Fran Kral car dealership on Third Street  because of its location a block from City Hall. Day-to-day operations are handled by Vermont-based Marathon Health, which Brauns says also provides staff.

"Two nurse-practitioners, actually, and they both specialize in family medicine, and an M.D," he explains. 

Open since 2014, the clinic provides primary-care services to city employees, their spouses, and dependents. Specialists and imaging are handled by outside providers, but Brauns says the facility also provides coaching to prevent chronic conditions, particularly if they’re rooted in a certain lifestyle.  Examples include diabetes and heart disease. 

Response to the clinic has been positive, with 70% of employees and a large percentage of their dependents taking advantage. The city broke even in the clinic’s first year, but Mayor Morrissey says it’s improved overall care.

"Because we’re self-insured, we can pay a flat fee to operate and run our own clinic, and that gives our clinicians more time to spend with individual employees and their families to drive that long-term conversation about health and wellness."

Morrissey hopes that conversation can help prevent more serious conditions, as well as save on larger health costs in the long run.

Seeing the city clinic’s success, Woodward decided to start a similar operation. The company has existed in Rockford since 1870, making various components and control systems for the aerospace industry.  Rick Holm is Woodward’s Vice President of Global Human Resources, Support Services, and Risk Management.

“With the long history that we’ve had in Rockford, we’ve also had a long history of having in-house medical and dental clinics. It probably goes back over 50 years.”

He says the company recently expanded into a secondary campus near Rock Cut State Park. The building allowed for more diverse production, but Holm was concerned Woodward couldn’t provide the same medical service available to employees – or, as Woodward calls them, members -- at its Loves Park headquarters.

“That gave us reason to start thinking, ‘How do we extend that same type of personalized service to our members?’ And then it struck us that we’d also want to extend it to their dependents, their spouses, and their children.”

In 2015, Woodward started looking for a clinic operator among Rockford’s local health systems. They decided on SwedishAmerican, which was thinking along similar lines.  Noel Nickel is SwedishAmerican’s Vice President of Population Health and Clinic Operations.

Credit Chase Cavanaugh/WNIJ
Rick Holm is Woodward's Vice President of Global Human Resources, Support Services, and Risk Management. Noel Nickel is the SwedishAmerican Vice President of Population Health and Clinic Operations

Like the city of Rockford’s facility, Woodward’s operation would allow for longer appointments with doctors and, by extension, more in-depth conversation with patients.  Holm outlines this vision. 

“A personalized concierge service, very very strong focus on wellness and prevention.”

Nickel says Woodward’s clinic also would be fully equipped for primary care.

“X-ray services, laboratory services. We are planning to staff the clinic with two full time family-medicine physicians plus an advanced practitioner.”

Currently, Woodward and SwedishAmerican are constructing the clinic building, managing open enrollment, and recruiting staff.  Woodward is even opening a similar health center in Fort Collins, Colorado. 

Despite some lingering technical glitches, Nickel is optimistic about future operations He’s also seen significant interest among Woodward staff at open houses.

“At this point, knock on wood, we are on schedule or ahead of schedule, so I think, so far, everything has gone very smooth.”

With the city of Rockford’s wellness clinic in operation for a year and Woodward’s current plans, other government bodies already are looking at similar models. These include Rock Valley College and Rockford Public Schools.

It’s too soon to analyze the long-term savings of these clinics but, like Mayor Morrissey, Holm is confident it will improve overall health and productivity.

“It’s reasonable to assume that, if you get primary care, you get good attention to the here and now, taking care of yourself, that you’re going to avoid more major illnesses down the road.”