Vt. health care provider rolls out mobile clinic

WINOOSKI, Vt. (WCAX) - A health care company in Chittenden County is on a mission to bring health care directly to the workplace.

“They’re literally bringing the doctor to our employees, " said Michele Asch, the vice president of Twincraft Skincare in Winooski, part of a new experiment in delivering health care directly to businesses.

Ryan Ferris, the CEO of Garnet health care, says he got the idea for the direct care mobile clinic after years of working as an EMT. “It’s pretty simple, it’s not an overly complex concept -- delivering health care outside of the four walls of the physician’s practice or a hospital,” he said.

The new direct care program will allow Vermont employees to receive care without having to leave the workplace. Twincraft Skincare is among the first to sign on. “What we want to do is create no barriers for our employees taking care of their health. And like we all know, when you take care of your health, you avoid the big event. You avoid the big heart attack, you avoid blood sugar issues. So, this is about preventative... it’s about consistent care and it’s about accessibility,” Asch said.

Employees who are on Twincraft’s health plan can schedule appointments to receive anything from illness treatment, injury assessments, flu shots, lab testing, and even health coaching right in the parking lot and at no additional cost.

“What we’re targeting is to be able to do essentially 95% of whatever a primary care office can do, basically anything that doesn’t include like X-rays or, you know, very complex diagnostic services,” Ferris said.

Employees we spoke to say the service is a total game-changer for them and that the program will help remove barriers they sometimes face when trying to seek out health care. “I’m a busy working mom. My husband and I both work full-time and we have two young kids under five. And so free time is at a premium these days, which includes fitting in doctor’s appointments. This is just going to make everything that much easier,” said Jill Coombs, a Twincraft account manager.

“Many of us are busy, we work long days. You know, we’re a growing company and the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, I can take part of my lunch break and go seek health care.’ Whether it’s a biometric screening or just a checkup, you don’t have to worry about the time that it’s going to take to set up an appointment, go wait in the waiting room, go way to urgent care,” said Zach Parker, a plant manager at Twincraft.

The mobile clinic will be coming to Twincraft every Tuesday and Garnet says they hope more companies will make the shift.

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