Company Care takes employee care to a new level

As 2016 came to a close, many offices and businesses in and around the Gainesville area held parties and gatherings celebrating the holidays for employees and clients. But one such party was a bit different than the usual office festivities.

Haven Hospice held a Mammography Party. Yes. A mammography party. It was actually the third of its kind for the not-for-profit, community hospice organization and is a direct result of its collaboration with Company Care of Gainesville.

Opened in October of 2011, Company Care of Gainesville provides comprehensive occupational health services to major employers, municipalities and small businesses throughout the north central Florida area. By mid-2014, City Medical Center, a sister hospital to NFRMC, opened their own Company Care.

A division of North Florida Regional Medical Center, Company Care is a department of NFRMC which is owned by HCA and serves the central Florida market. Company Care offers businesses typical healthcare services such as drug screenings, flu shots, employee physicals, as well as Department of Transportation compliance screenings.  

“We specialize 100 percent in the occupational health arena and are focused on healthy work environments,” said Scott Wenger, director of business health for Company Care, part of the HCA North Florida Division. “Our services don’t stop at occupational health. We can create answers to company needs through the huge resource of NFRMC,” he continued.

In its continuing effort to work with companies and organizations on their specific needs, Company Care has facilitated classes in diabetes education through NFRMC’s Diabetes Center as well as cancer education provided by The Cancer Center, specifically with events such as Haven Hospice’s Mammography Party.

“Our employees loved it. It is so much better that sitting in a cold office and was very effective for us. We just scheduled our third one since July,” said Kathy Garcia, Employee Health Nurse with Haven Hospice.

According to Susie Ulloa, Breast Cancer Navigator with North Florida Regional Medical Center, “Our mammography parties are set up to educate people on prevention and provide support. We have a group of people together, in a relaxed, fun atmosphere and it is less scary, more personal and certainly less stressful.”

And it is its relationship with NFRMC that allows Company Care to be most effective, according to Wenger. “With our access to NFRMC, we can tap into so much information and hospital resources for our clients, based on either their employee need or compliance mandate,” he added.

Additionally, Company Care offers access to H2U (health to you) Works, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of HCA. H2U Works provides annual health assessments for businesses which may include employee blood work, blood pressure screenings and height and body weight assessments. While all individual employee information is kept strictly confidential, this provides the employer a health assessment of its employee network. Individually, patient portals are set up to provide employees with their own test results and advice on living a healthier, balanced lifestyle. H2U provides a website with answers to health and wellness questions via a Health Library. Wellness magazines and newsletters are also available for continued health awareness.

Company Care also provides physicals and drug screens for transportation companies with ties to the north central Florida area. In May 2014, the Department of Transportation altered its criteria for those who could perform DOT physicals for transportation workers. As the certification criteria was tightened, the availability of those eligible to administer DOT physicals was drastically reduced. According to Wenger, Company Care has three providers certified by the new guidelines and offers full compliance with the DOT. That, coupled with their convenient locations of I-75 in Gainesville and now Lake City, is a big advantage for their client base.

In 2017, Wenger says Company Care is excited to add Ergonomic Services to their offerings.  

“As a service to our partnering companies, we will conduct on-site visits to offices, manufacturing sites, distribution centers, for example, and evaluate the environment for its potential for employee injury.” Details such as table and chair height, monitor angle, the amount of twisting and bending required for a job could all play a role in employee health, wellness and productivity, Wenger explained.

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