l clinic for the city of Vicksburg’s employees remains under study, but officials with several cities on the Coast that had on-site clinic programs for several years say the clinics have been very beneficial.

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. met with City Attorney Nancy Thomas, Accounting Director Doug Whittington, City Clerk Walter Osborne and employee benefits specialist Pam Flagg April 23 about establishing an in-house clinic for city employees and their families, and told the four officials to study the feasibility of having a clinic here.

Based on the experience of the Coast cities, the programs work well.

“It’s been great,” said Stacey Dahl, Long Beach deputy city clerk. Long Beach is one of six cities that have an on-site clinic for employees and their families. Other cities are Biloxi, Gulfport, Pass Christian, Hattiesburg and Alexandria, La. Attempts to get comments from Hattiesburg or Alexandria officials were unsuccessful.

Dahl said Long Beach has had a clinic for about seven years, and shares it with the Isle of Capri Casino in Gulfport.

“It has helped us tremendously with our (health insurance) claims,” she said. “We have got the richest plan there can be with Blue Cross, and we attribute that to that clinic. The families can walk in the clinic, the prescriptions are cheap, and you can get them right there. The last three years have seen a 20 percent decrease in major medical insurance (costs).

“Our health insurance is expensive, and some employees can’t afford it, so the clinic provides a valuable service for them and their families.”

She said Long Beach’s clinic began as an extra benefit for the city’s employees, “But then we’ve been able to do so much more, like pre-employment physicals and random drug testing.”

“There are a lot of pluses with this,” said Jill Middleton, human resources director for the city of Biloxi.

Middleton said Biloxi, like Vicksburg, has a self-insured medical program.

“When our employees and their dependents go to the clinic, it doesn’t hit our insurance,” she said, adding the city has had the clinic for nearly 10 years. “The first year saw a 25 percent savings in health insurance claims.”

Like Long Beach, Biloxi shares a clinic in Biloxi with the Harrison County School system and the casinos, and uses the clinic for pre-employment physicals and drug testing and workers compensation claims.

Lynn Hill, benefits administrator for the city of Gulfport, said the city has had an on-site clinic for about seven years, adding, “I think it’s saved us a lot of money.”

According to a chart from Biloxi-based Medical Analysis, which administers the on-site clinic programs, Vicksburg would see a net savings of $364,000 per year if it used an on-site clinic for employees and their families, based on a savings of 25 percent of its medical costs. The number, Flaggs, said, “Really got my attention.”

Marian Gest, city clerk for the city of Pass Christian, said the city has had the program for three years, but has not saved money by using the clinic.

“Our claims are always high. Each year we have different major catastrophes that prevent any type of savings,” she said.

The cities pay a fee to Medical Analysis to administer the service. Long Beach pays a fee of $3,000 per month for their service, while Biloxi’s monthly fee is $10,000 a month. Gest said Pass Christian pays $25 per employee, or a minimum of $2,000 a month. Gulfport’s cost was unavailable.

According to information presented to the city from Medical Analysis, the programs offer primary care services and non-emergency acute care, lab work, wellness programs and chronic disease management. They also offer employee physicals, drug testing and medical screening, and treat occupational injuries.

The clinics are staffed by a nurse practitioner and an assistant with physician oversight, and dispense generic prescription drugs. They are open eight hours a day, five-days a week, and employees and family members can walk in for an examination and treatment.

“The employees use it as needed, so if they come up with a sinus infection or a sore throat, or they need blood work, for their doctor, they (the clinic) can do all the blood work, send it off to the lab and then report back to the doctor,” Hill said.

“We always encourage our employees to have a primary care provider, but if they have something minor, it doesn’t cost the employee anything to go to the clinic, so they’re not going to pay their co-pay,” Middleton said. “It’s been very successful.”