VUSN expands hours, care at McKendree clinic
The McKendree Village clinic, run by the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, has recently expanded from two to five days a week.
In addition to serving independent and assisted-living elderly residents and nearby community members for the past six years, the clinic has also recently grown to accommodate the health care needs of the nearly 350 McKendree Village employees and their more than 600 dependents.
“This is our fifth employer-based primary care clinic in Middle Tennessee,” said Bonnie Pilon, D.S.N., R.N., senior associate dean for Faculty Practice.
“All of these clinics have opened at the request of the employers who want to offer health care access to their employees at a reasonable cost to the company.
“With our employer partners, we've experienced very positive health and financial outcomes over the past three years.”
McKendree's Senior Director of Human Resources Rusty Parrish, heard about the success of VUSN's employer-based clinics and contacted the School of Nursing to start discussions for an expanded clinic.
“It is an innovative, effective way to meet the medical needs of our employees while helping us manage health care insurance premium costs,” said Parrish.
“Proactive, preventive care health care programs really pay off in terms of keeping employees well, which results in both fewer absences and fewer insurance claims.”
The clinic is located on the 42-acre McKendree Village campus.
In addition to Nurse Practitioner Kei Berg, who sees patients two days a week, the clinic has added Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Hanley for the other three days and a full-time medical assistant, Ladonya Moore.
The clinic provides residents with on-site access to health resources for regular monitoring of any health issues such as high blood pressure, for flu shots and other preventive care, and for informal conversation with a caring, knowledgeable provider about health concerns.
There is no co-pay for employees and their dependents with Cigna insurance.
“We view the clinic as another benefit for our employees and an additional service available to our residents,” said Parrish.
“It ties in well with our quality care and wellness philosophies.”
In addition to the McKendree site, VUSN also operates three employer-based clinics at Sanford Corp.'s Shelbyville manufacturing plant and one clinic at the Dickson County Board of Education that serves both employees and their dependents.