About 350 Vectren employees who want to have a mole removed, get prescription drugs or undergo other routine medical procedures can now do so at work.
Vectren Corp., an energy company with its headquarters in Evansville, has opened a health clinic at its call and support services center at 100 N. Governor St. The roughly 350 employees who work there and their dependents will be able to schedule appointments with doctors and make routine medical visits on the site.
Mike Roeder, a Vectren spokesman, said the company hopes the clinic will prevent staff members from having to take large amounts of time away from work to visit the doctor. That should lead to increases in productivity.
"It's convenient for the employees," he said. "And it promises savings long-term for the company, so we can be good stewards of our budget."
The clinic will also be used to encourage employees to take steps to preserve or improve their own health, such as exercising or eating well. As is the case with many companies, the cost of providing health care for its employees is one of Vectren's greatest expenses, Roeder said. One way to reduce that is to have healthier employees, who will take fewer trips to the doctor.
Vectren hired Novia CareClinics, and Indianapolis company, to help it set up the clinic. Eric Olson, president of Novia, said Novia typically brings in doctors from the community to work on a company's site. Employees at the call center can now schedule a medical appointment at set times during the week, a procedure which may be done over the Internet, he said. Olson said Novia has set up clinics for almost 10 organizations in Indiana, including the government of Elkhart County.
"It's becoming more prevalent," he said. "It's a good model for physicians and practitioners."
Before Vectren adopted the clinic, the company had been offering health advice to employees through a program called Energize Vectren. The company will test the new system at its call center before deciding if it wants to use it on a larger scale.
