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SOUTH BEND -- South Bend Community School Corp. employees who carry the district's health insurance, along with their covered dependents, could have access to free medical services at one or more primary care clinics in the coming months.
At a special work session Monday evening, the school board heard from the administration on the topic of establishing an on- or near-site health clinic.
Curt Novotny, executive director of human resources for the corporation, said a committee, comprised of representatives from three labor unions that represent South Bend employees, along with school administrators, conducted months of research, bid reviews and even visited two area health clinics.
Out of that process, the group is recommending the hiring of Indianapolis-based Activate Healthcare to run the district's clinic.
It would offer health and wellness services, such as visits with a physician and/or a nurse practitioner, immunizations, basic laboratory testing and generic prescriptions, all at no cost to employees.
The clinic could potentially be located at Harrison Primary Center, Novotny said, since the school already contains a fairly extensive clinic that's used by the school nurse.
That said, the committee hasn't stricken the idea of establishing a second location, he said.
The proposal calls for Activate to cover all of the up-front costs of establishing the clinic in exchange for the district sharing a percentage of the cost savings with the company.
The school corporation would also pay roughly $25 a month for each covered employee and dependent.
Details such as clinic hours would be negotiable with Activate, which also runs an on-site clinic for the Elkhart Community Schools.
The idea for a clinic first surfaced this fall when the board heard about changes in employee health coverage that would result in higher premiums and deductibles for many of the school corporation's insured employees and their dependents.
At that time, Superintendent Carole Schmidt said, the board asked the administration to investigate the feasibility of establishing an on-site clinic.
The school board will be asked to give the administration the go-ahead to contract with Activate Healthcare at its meeting on Monday.
The proposed timeline calls for the clinic to open in June.
The Mishawaka school system has had its own near-site health clinic for the past five years.
Gregg Hixenbaugh, executive director of human resources and legal counsel, said it initially contracted with Novia CareClinics -- a firm that South Bend also considered -- to manage its clinic.
But two years ago, Hixenbaugh said, the district made a change and began contracting with Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center.
Being a local provider, Hixenbaugh said, Saint Joseph is a recognized name among employees.
Asked if Mishawaka has saved much money on health care as a result of having the clinic, Hixenbaugh said it's a bit difficult to quantify, but he believes it has.
"We've had some serious medical conditions that have been diagnosed through the clinic," he said.
"Our sense is, we've helped employees (improve) their individual health, plus caught conditions that down the road, could've cost more (to treat)."
Staff writer Kim Kilbride:
kkilbride@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6257