Walker County, CHI Memorial reach employee health agreement
Walker County employees and their families will receive health care at CHI Memorial Hospital’s clinics.
Commissioner Shannon Whitfield signed a three-year contract with the hospital Thursday, providing basic health coverage to about 400 people. The county’s employees and immediate family members will go to
CHI Memorial’s LaFayette and Chickamauga clinics and have access to lab services, X-rays and a pharmacy.
Two weeks ago, Whitfield said he would end the county’s agreement with Southern Clinic Services, which has operated out of two rooms in Whitfield’s office on South Duke Street. The commissioner, whose term began this year, said he doesn’t want a bulk of prescription drugs in the office.
“There was a lot of liability risk,” he said. The agreement between the county and the hospital begins Jan. 2. The county will pay CHI Memorial $210,000 a year, plus extra fees for certain services. Whitfield said the county paid Southern Clinic Services about $300,000 a year.
LaFayette’s employees also will receive medical treatment at the LaFayette and Chickamauga clinics after the city council voted earlier his month to enter a similar agreement, knowing that Whitfield was kicking out Southern Clinic Services.
“CHI Memorial Workplace Health is committed to delivering a comprehensive corporate health and wellness program,” Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development Andrew McGill said in a statement.
CHI Memorial is staking out a bigger footprint in North Georgia. The hospital purchased Cornerstone Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe this month, and it also wants to open an ambulatory surgery center on Battlefield Parkway in Ringgold, though it needs approval from the Georgia Department of Community Health. Erlanger Health System also is trying to open a surgery center across the street.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-7576476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.