Memphis Opens Health Clinic for City Employees, Retirees, Dependents

Memphis, Tennessee, officials on August 15 celebrated the opening of a new on-site health and wellness clinic for city employees, dependents and retirees.

Open three days a week from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the clinic offers diagnostic services and non-emergency care for a range of conditions, including sinus, urinary tract and upper respiratory infections, cold and flu symptoms, muscle sprains and minor cuts and burns.

The clinic will be staffed by Memphis-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Its operating expenses will be supported through a partnership with Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Cigna Corp., which insures the city’s employee health care plan.

“With the city’s renewed emphasis on health and wellness, we wanted to provide a convenient way for our employees to be seen and treated by a medical professional,” Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr. said in a joint statement released August 15. “Too often, we put off going to the doctor because we have other things to do.”

Patients will be charged a flat rate of $15 for clinic visits, according to the statement.

“(Memphis) employees will have easy access to high quality care at a very affordable cost,” said David Cummings, administrator of Methodist Healthcare’s community care division. “This increased access will allow them to be seen earlier by a medical professional, which should allow them to return to work quicker or mitigate any absence from work at all.”

The city began exploring the idea of opening an on-site health clinic during its renewal discussions with Cigna earlier this year, the statement said.

“The clinic will help promote prevention and enhance employee productivity,” said Mary Tate-Smith, Cigna vice president in Memphis, in the statement. “We are excited to be a part of the city’s efforts and to help support the health and well-being of our customers.”

The Memphis clinic was one of several publicly sponsored employee health and wellness centers to open in August, as clinics in Rome, Georgia, Lake County, Florida, and Cass County, Indiana, also began treating their eligible employees this month.

Matt Dunning writes for Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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