Larimer County to open free clinic for employees

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Many Larimer County employees are looking forward to Nov. 2. That's the date a new Wellness Clinic opens on Prospect Road--a totally free clinic for all employees who are enrolled in the county's health insurance program.

That's 1,460 employees, or 88 percent of those on the Larimer County payroll.

In addition to offering medical treatment, the clinic will also have a limited pharmacy, offering the 40 most popular generic drugs. These prescription drugs will be available at no cost to the patient.

Currently, medical co-pays for county employees' are $20 per primary care visit and $40 per specialist visit. There is also a co-pay for prescription drugs.

Besides the savings on clinic visits, there's even more good news for county employees: The county expects to pay less for medical services as a result of the new program, so employees' insurance premiums will not increase in 2010.

The free clinic will be located at 2310 E. Prospect Road, just east of Timberline Road. It will be staffed by a physician's assistant and a medical office assistant, who will make appointments and assist the PA with routine procedures like blood pressure checks. A local supervising physician will also be hired. The county will pay about $2,000 per month to rent the building.

The clinic will be open 40 hours per week. Benefits administrator Pam Stultz and her colleagues are still working out just what those hours will be. Since the county wants to accommodate employees who work various shifts, different days will likely have different hours. Also, there will be occasional Saturday morning hours. No on-call service will be offered.

Larimer County has self-insured its employees since 2006. For the past two years, Stultz and others have been working hard to get a free clinic up and running to improve two kinds of health: that of employees and that of the county budget.

According to budget manager Bob Keister, the county budgets about $12 million a year for its share of the self-insurance program. Employees chip in another $3 million.

Keister said that once the start-up costs are recouped, which amount to between $300,000 and $400,000, the county will begin saving money with each clinic visit. The total cost of a Wellness Clinic visit will be about $70 to $80, compared to well over $100 for an average visit at a private medical clinic.

The county needs to have at least 30 percent participation by employees to recover the initial investment in a timely manner. After the start-up period, Keister said, the county should save about $400,000 per year on medical claims.

Stultz said she's excited to see the clinic plans come to fruition at last. "We can use the clinic to improve employees' health at no cost to them," she said, "and at the same time be proactive at managing health care dollars."

Healthstat Inc., a company based in South Carolina, will operate the new clinic. Healthstat runs more than 300 clinics nationwide, and the company guarantees a positive return on the county's investment within two years. If that doesn't happen, the firm will refund its administrative costs.

The arrangement with Healthstat, Stultz pointed out, allows employees' health information to remain completely confidential. The county will have no access to this information.

The Wellness Clinic is not intended to replace an employee's primary care physician, Stultz emphasized. The clinic will treat conditions such as allergies, colds, flu, sinus infections, muscle sprains and cuts requiring stitches. The PA will also deal with smoking cessation and management of diabetes and high blood pressure. Mental health services are not available at the facility.

Any employee who wants to take advantage of the free clinic must undergo a health risk assessment. The county wants to emphasize preventive health care, and the PA will work with each employee to manage risk factors such as smoking, obesity and diabetes. By helping employees manage chronic conditions, the county plans to save money on medical claims.

Besides treating county employees, the clinic will serve spouses, domestic partners and children 2 years of age and older. Annual physicals, including sports physicals, will be available.

Larimer County will be the second in the state to open its own clinic, but it probably won't be the last. Stultz said she has had numerous phone calls from other counties who are interested in setting up clinics and are looking to Larimer County for leadership and ideas. El Paso County opened an employee clinic several years ago in conjunction with Colorado Springs.

Based on the excitement from county employees, other counties won't have far to look for testimonials about the free clinic program