County gets 8 clinic proposals
Three local providers and five national companies are vying to provide onsite services that may also cover Rome government workers.
Floyd County government employees could find out as early as next month if they’ll get an onsite health clinic as part of their benefits package.
Senior managers are starting to sift through eight proposals from companies around the country that were received by the call-out deadline. County Manager Jamie McCord said a committee of staffers will narrow the list to a more manageable number and interview the finalists.
“We don’t have a timeline yet, but it
will be sooner rather than later. I’d love to have a recommendation in May,” he said. There’s also no deadline yet for getting the clinic up and running.
City of Rome employees could be included in the plan, which is primarily aimed at lowering medical costs for the government and offering a “convenient, cost-effective benefit.”
The city already has an onsite clinic for employees, run through Redmond Regional Medical Center. City Manager Sammy Rich said the administration is “very pleased” with the service and employee surveys indicate they’re satisfied as well.
“That’s not to say we wouldn’t be interested in seeing if there’s an opportunity for savings or a better level of service,” he added.
The number of corporate health and wellness companies doing business nationally has mushroomed since the city established its clinic in 2012.
Redmond and Floyd Medical Center submitted proposals to the county, along with APEX Direct Care on Riverside Parkway in Rome. But the county also received proposals from five out-ofstate firms: CareHere LLC of Brentwood, Tennessee; Marathon Health, based in Winooska, Vermont; Quadmed of Sussex, Wisconsin; Healthstat in Charlotte, North Carolina; and CareATC from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
McCord said the first step is to ensure each of the lengthy proposals covers everything the county wants. Priorities are primary care and work-related needs such as treatment of injuries, physicals and drug testing. Health-risk identification, an onsite pharmacy and wellness coaching are also important, according to the request for proposals.
“I’m planning a meeting with staff next week and we’ll go from there,” McCord said Friday. “Obviously we know a couple of the players, but some we’ve never heard of.”
‘1,200 covered lives’
Respondents got separate numbers for both the county and the city, and it was up to them to decide if they wanted to include both. The county committee will be keeping Rome Human Resources Director Rita Odom in the loop, McCord said.
“I told them the city may or may not participate,” he noted. “We both have about 1,200 covered lives and I don’t know that economy of scale is going to save that much money.”
Rome has 630 employees with about 667 dependents, for a total of 1,297 potential participants, according to the RFP.
The county numbers were 665 employees and about 405 dependents, a total of 1,070 people. But McCord said some employees get coverage through their spouses or have other reasons for not participating. And the number fluctuates as workers come and go. The turnover rate was just over 6 percent last year.
At the time of the RFP, the median age of county employees was 47, median income was about $30,000 and about 61 percent were women. Retirees would not be eligible to use the onsite clinic.
Once the staff is done with the evaluations and interviews, they’ll make a recommendation to the Floyd County Commission.
The county spent an average of $253 per month per employee on medical benefits in 2016, down from $268 in 2015 and $287 in 2014.