Meat plant to open health clinic

DELPHI, Ind. (AP) - More than 2,000 workers and their families will have the option of using a free health clinic once Indiana Packers Corp.'s health clinic opens this week in Delphi.

The 3,600-square-foot facility was built this fall to serve the nearby pork processing plant and is a partnership between Indiana Packers, Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health and Unity Healthcare.

It will open to employees Wednesday.

"Our vision was to be a benefit to our employees," Jim Hardison, the company's vice president of human resources, told the Journal & Courier (http://on.jconline.com/Wn5wNR ). "It's been one of the most positive things we've done in the past five years. It's the talk of the plant."

The company's goal is to have 60 percent of its workforce elect to use the clinic within its first year. It is available at no cost to those on each employee's health care plan.

Indiana Packers has added about 350 employees to its workforce during 2012, Hardison said.

Because the plant's employees live across Central Indiana, Hardison said it made sense to build the facility in Delphi. It is located at 1165 N. U.S. 421.

The new employee health clinic features eight exam rooms, on-site lab services, electronic medical records plugged into the Franciscan network, medications and immunizations. Neither narcotics nor controlled substances will be at the clinic, which will be staffed with three nurse practitioners from Unity Healthcare.

Hardison said Indiana Packers' partnership with Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health and Unity Healthcare makes the project a locally valuable one.

"We made a very strong choice to work with the Franciscan Network and Unity Healthcare," Hardison said. "There's no duplication of care."