Amazon launches neighborhood health clinics for warehouse workers
- Amazon is launching neighborhood health-care clinics for warehouse workers and their families.
- The company expects to open 20 clinics in five cities as part of an initial pilot program and it could establish more facilities in 2021 if the program is successful.
- In May, Amazon expanded its telemedicine program, called Amazon Care, to include Seattle-area warehouse employees.
Amazon is launching neighborhood health clinics for warehouse workers and their families in a handful of cities, the company announced Tuesday.
The first clinics, which are rolling out as a pilot program, will be located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Phoenix, Louisville, Detroit and San Bernardino, California. Amazon expects to open 20 health centers across those five cities and, if the pilot is successful, it will establish additional centers in other cities and states in 2021, the company said.
While the clinics will serve Amazon employees, they'll be operated and staffed by Crossover Health, a start-up that works with self-insured employers to provide health-care services. The health centers will be located near Amazon's fulfillment centers, sort centers and delivery stations. With Amazon warehouses open around the clock, the centers will also have extended hours to "accommodate various employee work schedules."
Darcie Henry, Amazon's vice president of human resources, said the clinics are designed to provide a range of preventative care resources for warehouse workers, in the place of emergency or urgent care options, which are not only more expensive for patients but also limited in the types of care they can provide.
"We want to solve that for our employees, and the launch of these new neighborhood health centers will provide a range of quality primary care services for employees across the country," Henry said.
The clinics will offer acute, chronic and preventative primary care, prescription medications, vaccinations, behavioral health services, physical therapy and chiropractic care, among other services.
The clinics are launching at a crucial time, as coronavirus outbreaks continue to pop up across the country. Many warehouse employees have pushed Amazon to better protect them from the virus while they're on the job. Amazon facilities across the U.S. continue to report new cases and at least nine workers have died from Covid-19.
Amazon has added to its suite of benefits for warehouse employees in recent months. In June, Amazon said it would start providing 10 days of subsidized emergency backup child or adult care for all of its U.S. employees until Oct. 2.
Last September, Amazon launched a virtual health clinic with in-home follow-ups for corporate employees in the Seattle area, referred to as Amazon Care. In May, Amazon expanded the service to include warehouse workers near the company's headquarters. Using an app, employees can connect with medical professionals for a video consultation and then request an in-home visit if necessary.