91视频

When leaders at Hoffman Construction took a close look at the overall health of the company’s employees, they weren’t satisfied with what they found.

鈥淧eople were getting sick more than often than we thought they should,鈥� Hoffman Construction Vice President Dan Drinkward said.

Drinkward and other company executives asked themselves a question: Was there some way they could help their employees get better health outcomes than those offered by traditional systems?

After some searching, Hoffman found Vera Whole Health, a Seattle-based company that has carved a niche for itself by building and operating primary care clinics for employees of large companies like Hoffman.

Vera Whole Health opened in 2008 with a clinic for its first client, Seattle Children’s Hospital. Since then, the company’s business model 鈥渉as evolved dramatically,鈥� Ryan Schmid, Vera president and CEO, said. The company’s client list also has evolved since its early days. Vera Whole Health now provides health care services for seven public and nine nonpublic clients, with clinic settings for each of them.

The local clinic for Hoffman’s Portland employees and their families, for example, is just down the street from the general contractor’s Southwest Broadway office (employees in the company’s Seattle office use a Vera clinic already in that city). As with most clinics that Vera Whole Health operates for its clients, the one for Hoffman came together relatively quickly, with tenant improvements used to customize space in an existing downtown building.

Vera Whole Health’s willingness to open a clinic in Portland was just one feature that convinced Hoffman to add the health care provider’s services to the benefits it offers its employees, Drinkward said. A checkup with a primary care doctor at a Vera clinic lasts between 30 minutes and one hour. The clinic also offers a full range of integrated services, so a Hoffman employee visit a doctor’s office, take care of lab work and pick up a prescription all in one trip and without having to leave the clinic building.

Hoffman still offers more traditional health care programs for employees, but Drinkward said employees who’ve already used services provided by Vera Whole Health have given the clinic high marks.

鈥淭he initial feedback has been great,鈥� he said.

While Hoffman’s employees are the only patients being served at the local clinic currently, the space has potential to expand to serve as many as 3,500 clients. The plan, according to Schmid, is to sign up more local companies whose employees also would tap into the clinic’s services.