The City of Rockford will offer onsite healthcare and wellness services to employees and their families next summer as part of a citywide effort to improve health, healthcare delivery, and the overall socioeconomic environment within the region.
Under an agreement the Rockford City Council approved last month, worksite healthcare provider Marathon Health will deliver its MedicalHome@Work™ model beginning in July 2014. Marathon Health will staff a full-time physician, RN and medical assistant at a city-owned facility to provide its Total Population Health Risk Management solution, which includes primary care, disease management, and health coaching, as well as pre-employment occupational health services.
The City of Rockford and Marathon Health also announced they will be hosting a provider summit for the Rockford medical community. At this event, City of Rockford and Marathon Health representatives will share the benefits of a collaborative approach to providing healthcare and preventive services to City of Rockford employees. The provider summit will tentatively be held on April 2 at 6 p.m. at the City of Rockford City Hall Lobby. Please call (815) 987-5580 to RSVP or find out more information.
The health center is part of Mayor Larry Morrissey’s Healthy Rockford initiative, which brings in partners including local hospitals, Rockford Public Schools, and Winnebago County to lower healthcare costs, change outcomes, and improve the community’s health.
Rockford selected Marathon Health to provide onsite health services following a competitive search process. The selection of Marathon Health was based on a number of factors, including finding a partner who could help improve the health and wellness of the city’s employees and their families, as well as aiding the City in leading both citizens and providers in health and wellness.
“When selecting a provider for our Wellness Center, we were incredibly focused on developing a wellness solution for our employees that focuses on lifestyle medicine using integrated health techniques that are proven to bring disease reversal. We believe this approach will allow for better managed health and wellness for our employees which will ultimately lower our healthcare costs,” said Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey.
Marathon Health became the provider of choice as Mayor Morrissey integrated a better approach to managing the city’s health plan costs to his vision for a healthier community with his Healthy Rockford Initiative.
“Marathon Health was selected because they understood and embraced the Healthy Rockford vision,” Morrissey said. “They understood that the center will not only serve to improve health and save money for the City of Rockford but that this initiative will also integrate economic development both on the business development side but also in the health industry and it will become a vital educational component in the secondary and post-secondary health related educational opportunities.”
Onsite health centers are a growing trend. A 2012 report from health and human resources consultant Mercer showed that in the past three years, prevalence of onsite health clinics for employers with 5,000 or more employees increased from 32 percent of companies to 37 percent.
Marathon Health Vice President of Sales Greg Hiss said the collaborative model proposed by Rockford and Marathon Health has the potential to be a true game-changer in healthcare delivery.
“Because we focus on identifying and mitigating health risks, in the context of providing high-quality care, we expect to see significant savings as well as improved health status of the Rockford population,” said Hiss. “This is a brilliant model for changing the health of an entire community and we applaud Mayor Morrissey and the City for its vision.”