In the first 16 months since its opening in September 2013, the on-site Bendix Health Center, located at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems’ Huntington, Indiana, manufacturing facility, achieved a 91 percent screening rate for employees, who number more than 400. Of those employees identified with high-risk or chronic conditions, nearly three quarters – or 71 percent – have made a measurable improvement on at least one risk factor since the clinic opened, the company reported.
Bendix says the on-site health center is part of the company’s longstanding commitment to employee and family health and wellness. Through a partnership with Marathon Health Inc., Bendix’s Huntington employees have workplace access to healthcare, including primary care, health assessments, health coaching and disease management. The Marathon Health MedicalHome@Work on-site healthcare model also serves the spouses and children of Bendix employees.
At the Bendix Health Center, which is staffed by a nurse practitioner and medical assistant, employees and family members receive preventive and primary care services, follow-up care and referral management. On-site clinicians can either serve as employee primary care physicians or coordinate with employees’ current doctors. The on-site clinic is the first within a Bendix facility. The health center, which sees an average of 90 visitors a month, expanded its hours to meet the growing needs of participants.
Bendix facilities across North America, Huntington among them, also include on-site employee fitness centers and walking paths. In 2012, all Bendix campuses declared themselves tobacco-free properties. The company said its efforts to create a healthier working environment, decrease absenteeism and improve employee productivity and health both in and out of the workplace have significantly benefited the company and its workforce. Bendix did not pass along any health insurance cost increases to its employees for 2013 and 2014 because they were collectively healthier, and its healthcare cost per employee has been dropping.
At the Huntington facility, 96 percent of Bendix’s employees are engaged in some aspect of the plant’s wellness program. The majority of employees – 61 percent – were eligible for the 2014 insurance premium discounts for lifestyle choices. The Bendix mobile mammography program, launched in 2008, screens increasing numbers of women each year, with 88 tested in 2014.
