Huntington Ingalls Industries’ bet on improved health care at decreased cost has paid off since it opened clinics at two of its subsidiary shipyards in Newport News and Gautier, Mississippi, over a half-decade ago, according to a company executive.
The clinics are a critical part of the health strategy for the company, said Karen Velkey, the HII vice president of compensation and co-chair of Blueprint Virginia Health Care and Life Sciences executive committee. Huntington Ingalls, the parent company of Newport News Shipbuilding, is Virginia largest industrial employer and Mississippi’s largest employer.
The company sought to open the facilities to increase access and affordability, as well as promote health which also would serve as an incentive to workers. The clinics are operated by QuadMed — a company that formed from a large printing business that struggled to find quality affordable care for its employees. The printing company began to invest in primary care health instead of being a buyer.
The company has invested $100 million into the clinics, which offer in-house X-rays, labs, physical therapy, dental, vision and pharmacy services. The investments have saved about $725 million for HII, according to Velkey.
“The results are also changing people’s lives,” she said.
The clinics are not meant to displace other primary care doctors, but serve as a supplemental health service to reduce need for more serious and expensive care later while still offering PCP services for those who choose to use it. HII data shows users of the clinics visit and are admitted to Emergency Departments less often then non-users of the clinics. Workers and their dependents, as well as retirees on company health plans are able to use the clinics where visits are often $15 — such as for an X-ray, Velkey said.
The two health centers are visited about 60,000 times a year combined — with about one-third of visits for primary care provider services, about one third for radiology services and one third for other services such as physical therapy, according to Velkey. The clinics are at 94% utilization and indicates need for expansion, her presentation said.
Before the clinics opened, there was opposition against them during that time’s union bargaining contract, according to Charles Spivey, president of United Steel Workers Local 8888, which represents about 10,000 workers.
He said there were initial doubts about how a company health provider may impact employment for workers if they are found to be sick and they may no longer be able to go to their contemporary primary care providers, he said.
Velkey said trust is an important factor in the health clinics; QuadMed does not share health data with HII.
Additionally, the level of the staff who use the clinics is low, according to Spivey citing internal surveys. He said this doesn’t mean anything negative specifically about the clinics but reflects the relative newness of the clinics and that many workers have opted to continue seeing doctors and providers with whom they’ve built relationships. He said some Local 8888 members have campaigned to try and build trust between employees and the clinics.
Velkey presented the information about the HII clinics at the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Health Care Conference in Richmond. Also during the health care conference, leaders from state government, health care systems, insurance companies and more spoke about workforce development, behavioral health care and the constant subject of the shortage of providers and knock on-impacts that has on numerous aspects of health care.
In an interview before her presentation, Velkey said there are no immediate plans about creating a brick and mortar clinic for their Northern Virginia-based Mission Technologies division, which handles AI and other military tech. Virtual care is one option being explored, she said.
“We’re constantly looking to improve and grow and include as many of our employees and their families as we’re able to,” she said.
Ian Munro, 757-447-4097, ian.munro@virginiamedia.com
