Local co. creates free employee clinic

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) - Yolanda Ford was out of work and without health insurance for nearly two years.

But then she got a job with a Chesapeake defense contractor called Tecnico , which soon made primary health coverage no longer an issue.

"It was exciting, not having to make a co-pay, not feeling the stress of not being able to get my medication," Ford said. "Going to the physical was the best thing, 'cause I hadn't been in a while, so just seeing what was going on with me."

The physical at the new American Maritime Holdings (AMH) Health clinic cost her nothing. AMH is employee-owned, with nearly 1,000 workers in its two companies.

"It's free, the doctor here is free," said AMH Chairman and CEO Gary Brandt. "We don't handle cash. There's no payroll deduction, no nothing."

Brandt said the company is focused on employee health and wellness.

"I had an idea...what better way to take care of people than to bring it in house?"

So AMH, the holding company for Tecnico, hired its own nurse and physician, and opened a clinic that employees can walk into anytime. It is a financial commitment, but also a multi-level investment.

"My biggest point of this whole thing is giving people healthy productive lives and for them to be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor and be able to go and spend it with their families," Brandt said.

Affordable healthcare became a greater concern with the volatile debate surrounding the healthcare reform bill passed earlier this year. AMH is preparing for uncertainties that may come with the phase-in of new federal regulations.

"People don't have to take your healthcare as I understand it. They can go out and collect their own if they don't like yours. It could have some impact. But we fully anticipate by 2014 that people are going to continue to beat the door down to come in here because we're going to provide the best service at the best cost," said Brandt.

Dr. Marc Gaines left private practice to run AMH Health, where he can focus on preventive care without approval from insurance companies, Medicare, or Medicaid.

"Many times I would want to order this test and they would say, 'Well, doctor, does the patient have this diagnosis?' And I'm like 'No, not that I know of, but how am I going to know unless I do the test,'" Gaines said.

In hundreds of free visits since January, Gaines said he has discovered life-threatening illnesses in some patients.

"For example we uncovered cases of diabetes they didn't know they had...high cholesterol, someone with blocked arteries..." he said. "Hopefully we prevented a heart attack."

Preventive care is a key component of national health reform. And while there are debates over whether mandated coverage will actually lower healthcare costs, AMH believes a wellness approach will improve not only employee health, but also productivity.

The clinic is a quick walk from Tecnico in Chesapeake.

After one free physical, Ford said she knows her health and life are improved.

"[Dr. Gaines] told me my cholesterol was really high. He put me on a prescription and within six weeks it was down 60 points and I lost 20 pounds," she said.

AMH leaders anticipate modest savings once an employee pharmacy is up and running. Employees could receive generic prescriptions for free, depending on discounts the company receives for buying them wholesale.

The clinic is also licensed, and must abide by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA).

Brandt already considers the clinic a financial success, even though it is not intended to make a profit.

"Because obviously when you run a wellness initiative to do physicals and not charge for the physicals--to get that going--that costs money. But I have to tell you, after our first three months review, it has not cost us anymore," he said.

AMH still provides and pays for a standard employee insurance plan.

AMH, Tecnico, and Marine Hydraulics International employees can still use their regular insurance company for outside healthcare providers or specialists.

However, Brandt says, "Obviously, we want them to come here because ultimately we're paying that co-pay. Since we're self insured it eventually comes to us and we write the check."

Depending on continued success of the clinic, it may or may not expand. Brandt and Gaines express enthusiasm about allowing employee dependents to use AMH Health as early as 2011.

Ford is eager for that day for her children.

"As soon as he makes it available for them, they will be coming to the AMH clinic. That's, like, really exciting. "It really cuts the costs."