New UW Health clinics will exclusively serve Rockford Public Schools employees as part of growing employer-based clinic trend

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — UW Health has opened two new primary care clinics dedicated exclusively to employees and dependents of Rockford Public Schools.

The school district, which is Rockford’s largest employer with about 4,000 workers, joins a growing trend of large employers establishing their own clinics. The RPS 205 Employee Health Centers are UW Health’s sixth employer-based clinic in the region, and it will open for patients Tuesday.

The goal is to provide employees with more convenient access to health care and help them improve their overall well-being. It can also benefit the district by reducing missed work time and potentially saving overall medical costs through preventative care.

“The real why behind this is students,” Superintendent Ehren Jarrett said. “If employees receive high-quality health care, then they can be present for their students.”

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UW Health’s first local employer-based clinic was established in 2017 in partnership with Woodward, another one of the region’s largest employers, for its 3,600 employees and their families.

“This employer-based care model has proven to be very successful in the past, as it enables improved access to comprehensive and affordable health care services and wellness programs,” said Travis Andersen, CEO of UW Health Northern Illinois.

The two Rockford Public Schools locations are at 2473 McFarland Road on the city’s east side and 2601 N. Main St. on the northwest side. The McFarland Road location will be open five days a week and the North Main site will be open three days a week. They’re open to employees and dependents covered by the district’s PPO health insurance plan, and about 7,500 are eligible to use the centers.

“UW Health was the only organization that was able to meet the needs of our members by offering two clinic locations, serving the east and west side of Rockford,” Jarrett said. “This is not only good for our members but for the city as a whole, in order to continue investing in all areas of Rockford.”

The clinics offer adult and pediatric primary care services, including office visits for preventive, acute and chronic disease management care, as well as laboratory, immunizations and vaccinations, care coordination, annual physicals, sports physicals and wellness services, as well as limited pharmacy services.

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Rockford Public Schools selected UW Health to manage and operate their employer-based clinic through a competitive bid process. It pays a per member, per month fee to UW Health for the service. The employee has no copay or cost for using the clinic.

On average, total employee health care costs about $15,000 to $16,000 per employee in the district, Jarrett said. That equates to roughly $60 million to $65 million annually.

With the addition of the Rockford Public Schools center, UW Health’s employer-based clinics now care for about 16,000 people. UW Health’s other area employer-based clinics are Woodward Health Center and Woodward Occupational Health Center, Partners Health Center, which serves 94 local employer groups, Winnebago County Employee Health Center and Belvidere District 100 Wellness Center. UW Health also had an employer-based clinic for Fiat Chrysler Automotive in Belvidere, which closed indefinitely under Stellantis in March.

“We’re deeply committed to this community, and we’re in all parts of the geography of this community,” Anderson said. “A healthy community is about healthy business, healthy education, healthy environment: It’s way more than just being a health care system. … We want to be deeply involved in making this a great place to live, work, teach and grow up in.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas