Collins to open clinic for workers: E-mail this story to a friend

Sep 30, 2008 (The Hutchinson News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CNSI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Rising health care costs have prompted a South Hutchinson business to offer an on-site health clinic for its employees.

Collins Bus Corp. will open the clinic Thursday -- the first of its kind in Reno County -- allowing their more than 250 employees to receive free medical care.

"By focusing on preventative care, it will help us control our health care cost in the future," said Kent Tyler, president of Collins Bus. "It is an investment. It is costing us, but in the long term we hope we, as well as our employees, see the benefits."

Care for illness is available at the clinic, but the focus will be on

preventative medicine in the form of health assessments and screenings for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and cancer.

This approach, officials say, will help prevent serious illnesses that cause lost time at work and expensive treatments.

"The problem with health care today is not the office visits or the sore throat visits, it's the catastrophic events that happen to 10 percent of people, but cost everyone," said Paul Keeling, director of sales for Care ATC -- the Oklahoma-based company Collins contracted with to operate the clinic.

"Many choose not to seek care until the illness has become severe. There is no excuse not to seek health care if it is free and on-site."

Employees' regular health insurance is not affected by the new clinic, and deductibles and co-insurance still apply when using a doctor off-site. However, visits to the on-site clinic, including free prescriptions for the top 25 generic drugs, are covered 100 percent by Collins.

Spouses and dependents can also seek health services at the clinic if the employee carries insurance offered by the company.

"There is no deductible, no payment on their part," said Tyler. "If they are sick, they can literally come in and be seen before it gets worse. The goal is to have a healthy workforce because at the end of the day it saves them time by having a clinic on location, and us time because they are well and at work."

The clinic, staffed by Dr. Geri Hart, as well as a registered nurse and a medical assistant, is open from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday and 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday.

Sponsoring an on-site health clinic is a "bold" approach to attempting to lower health-care costs, said Dave Kerr, president of the Reno County/Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce, but one that many are applauding.

"We are impressed," he said. "This has the potential to make Collins a favorable place to work."

Collins Industries, the parent company of Collins Bus, opened a Care ATC clinic similar to the one in Hutchinson at another of its companies, Capacity of Texas, a terminal truck manufacturer in Longview, Texas. It will open another on Wednesday at Wheeled Coach Industries, an ambulance manufacturer in Winter Park, Fla.

"We are committed to this as a company," said Tyler, "and really excited about it."

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