TAMARAC, Fla. -- City Furniture has opened an employee Health & Wellness Center at its company headquarters here, a new perk designed to help cut health-related expenses for both employees and the company.
Keith Koenig, left, and Doreen Koenig of City Furniture join Sylvia Davis and Dr. Patrick Taylor of Holy Cross Hospital to officially open the retailer's Health & Wellness Center in its corporate office, showroom and distribution center in Tamarac, Fla.
The clinic, staffed by Holy Cross Hospital and offering free preventive and urgent medical care, opened in about 2,000 square feet on the ground floor of the Top 100 company's 1.1 million-square-foot headquarters, showroom and distribution center complex.
City, with 14 City Furniture and nine Ashley Furniture HomeStores in Florida, declined to disclose its investment in the clinic. In a release, it said the move reflects a growing business trend as health care costs increase and more large employers are opening such workplace clinics to cut premium expenses while boosting employee productivity and satisfaction
City's 925 employees and their families - including spouses or domestic partners - can receive free basic medical services at the center, including treatment of minor illnesses; basic physician exams and biometric screenings; monitoring of conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure; initial treatment of work-related injuries; and health education and coaching.
"Our goal is to reduce health care and workers compensation expenses," said Janet Wincko, City Furniture's managing director of human resources.
She added that the company doesn't have an estimate of the cost savings yet, noting that reductions in health care costs "is a long-term health and wellness strategy and we don't expect to see an immediate" return on investment.
Nevertheless Wincko said that City - a self-funded insurer - and its employees are well positioned to save money, noting that preventive care can dramatically reduce claims. Also, the new center saves some employees hours of drive time and waiting for treatment and frees them from paying co-pays or drawing from health reimuburemsent accounts.
She added that the long-term benefits also go beyond cost savings.
"Finding and keeping the best talent to serve our diverse Florida markets is a major priority and ongoing challenge," Wincko said. "Providing access to high quality, free health care lets our people know that when we say nurturing and respecting our team is a core value, we live that value."
