The city of Columbus and Columbus Regional Hospital have reached an agreement to allow city employees and their families access to a clinic that currently serves Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. employees.
The Columbus Board of Works voted Tuesday to approve the contract with CRH.
“We have approximately 900 covered lives, employees plus their families,” said Arlette Cooper-Tinsley, the city’s human resources director. “They would have access to what is now called the BCSC clinic, the school clinic. It is moving to NexusPark.”
The move will allow the clinic to expand and offer more services, she said. As part of the agreement, CRH will hire a nurse practitioner who is dedicated to serving city employees.
Cooper-Tinsley said that the plan is for the clinic to move into NexusPark in the first quarter of 2024, and the city’s access to the clinic will begin 30 days after it opens at the new location.
The annual cost of the contract is $370,000, with this being prorated during the first year due to the later start, said Mayor Jim Lienhoop.
According to Cooper-Tinsley, the amount will be locked in for two years, with no automated increases due to inflation. The cost could change during the third year of the contract, but there is a cap on how much it could increase.
Once their clinic access begins, city employees will have access to general practitioner treatment for children and adults, as well as same- or next-day scheduling.
“One thing that happened during COVID is that many of the pediatricians in the region who had walk-in hours restricted those walk-in hours, and those walk-in hours have not necessarily come back,” Cooper-Tinsley said. “So we have a lot of employees who can’t get back to work, which is where we want them to be, because they have a sick child who can’t get care. So same-day, next-day scheduling is very, very valuable access.”
Additionally, there will be a “basic formulary” of medications available at the clinic, she said. These medications are covered at no cost to the employee, and the same is true of visits and any labs that might be ordered.
Director of Administration and Community Development Mary Ferdon said that the city hopes the clinic will help with employee retention, with some individuals mentioning this kind of program as an attractive benefit in their exit interviews.
She added that the city also wants to be conscious of employee health.
“Our health care costs have just gone up exponentially, as you’ve seen over the past 10 years and will continue to,” she said. “So it just makes sense all the way around.”
Cooper-Tinsley said she hopes that having an employee clinic will mean that serious problems will be identified sooner. She noted that the clinic is “extremely popular” with BCSC employees and their families, with a utilization rate of about 98%.
According to CRH, the BCSC Health Clinic is currently located at 815 Schnier St. and is available for use by any employee or dependent covered by BCSC’s health insurance.
“There is no co-pay for visits, labs or medications provided within the clinic,” CRH’s website states. “Services in the clinic are paid for by BCSC at a discounted cost, allowing both you and our school corporation to save money on healthcare costs.”
