PANAMA CITY — The School Board tentatively agreed Thursday to hire a new company to operate the health clinic for Bay District Schools employees at a cost of more than $1 million a year.
In a special meeting, the School Board voted 4-1 — Jerry Register dissented — following the advice an evaluation committee that chose Winooski, Vt.-based Marathon Health to replace the Charlotte-based Healthstat.
Healthstat has operated the Bay Educators Wellness Center at 15th Street and June Avenue since it opened in February 2013. The initial term of the agreement with Marathon calls for it to operate the clinic for three years with an option of two annual renewals after that.
Register expressed concerns about the $1,078,000 annual price tag of operating the clinic.
“From the very beginning of us coming on the board with the superintendent, we’ve been looking at money,” he said, adding that the board has had to make substantial budget cuts.
The contract calls for paying Marathon Health about $100,000 more than what Healthstat was being paid.
“I’d love to know the percentage of people who use the facility,” Register said.
School district officials say they were not pleased with Healthstat’s performance, particularly the way the company marketed the facility to employees and the number of employees who were using it.
The board initially did not second a motion by School Board member Ryan Neves to approve the contract subject to the attorney’s approval, saying they felt rushed and hadn’t had a chance to look over the contract wording.
John Harrison, general manager of purchasing, said the board was called to make a decision at the special meeting because it would take Marathon Health a few months to get their operation up and running and it would need the contract approved Thursday so the company could open in March to avoid the clinic being closed.
But School Board member Ginger Littleton vented her frustration.
“This all came so quickly, and I didn’t have any data that we were looking at something as drastic as moving this company and bringing in another,” she said.
In the end, School Board members considered not bringing up the item again until the January meeting. That would have meant the clinic would close temporarily, so the board agreed to tentatively approve the contract subject to board members looking over the contract wording Thursday afternoon and the attorney reviewing it.
The clinic offers preventive medicine and wellness programs and school district officials say the overall goal in the long run is to decrease employee health insurance rates.
Before the meeting, Superintendent Bill Husfelt said the clinic also helps keep employees healthy, pointing out that since opening several employees were diagnosed there with diabetes and one with cancer.
“Any time we can help our employees maintain their health or get healthier, it is going to make productivity in the classroom better, less absenteeism, improved school grades and student production in the classroom,” he said.
Local preference bid: In other action Thursday, the board for the first time approved of a bid under a new local preference bidding system.
- At the Dec. 9 meeting, the board approved a contract with a Dothan, Ala.-based company of $87,898 to provide a chiller at Bay High School.
- Under the board’s new policy, if local companies submit a bid within 5 percent of the overall lowest, non-local bid, they will have the chance to match the lowest bid. Tarpon Dock Air Conditioning did just that, lowering its initial bid of $89,014 to $87,898 and the board Thursday awarded the contract to the company.