When employees at ADT headquarters in Boca Raton need a flu shot or are suddenly feeling ill, they don\’t have to leave the building for medical care.
In May, ADT security firm joined a growing number of large South Florida companies, including JM Family Enterprises, Royal Caribbean and City Furniture, by adding on-site health clinics for employees and their families.
With health care and workers\’ compensation insurance major expenses for employers, some companies find economical to build on-site clinics. Convenient medical services can minimize time off work and prompt workers to get preventative care. On-site clinics tell workers they\’re valued and help with employee recruitment, companies say.
Anita Graham, ADT\’s human resources chief, said the company\’s clinic makes preventative care easy for workers. \”People either put off treatment or going for a physical, and they end up going to an emergency room, worsening their health outcome,\” she said.
Since ADT opened its clinic a few weeks ago, \”I\’ve been there three times,\” said Jodi Calfee, manager of interior design. Calfee, 34, has a 2 1/2-year-old son and has visited ADT\’s clinic for a cold and sinus infection. \”I get all the day-care colds,\” she said.
Tenet Florida has opened a clinic at Royal Caribbean Cruise headquarters at PortMiami. The clinic opened in September and is providing primary care to employees and their families.
Local companies adding health care services often look to JM Family Enterprises, which has had on-site health services since 1989 on its Deerfield Beach campus. JM Family has three full-time doctors on staff and visiting doctors who specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. Its Deerfield Beach clinic has been well-used, with its 1,400 employees making a total of 13,000 clinic visits in 2011.
Tamarac-based City Furniture is modeling its clinic, opening in late July, on JM Family\’s. City Furniture has partnered with Holy Cross Hospital, which is providing a nurse practitioner to care for City Furniture\’s 925 employees and dependents, for free.
The company also sees the clinic as a benefit that will attract new workers. \”It helps us to be an employer of choice,\” she said.
Source: Sun-Sentinel