LYCOMING COUNTY, Pa. — A crowd of Lycoming County employees gathered on the second floor at 33 West Third Street in Williamsport on Monday as Integrity Health's new Partnership Health Center was unveiled.
"We partner with public employers like counties, school districts, and municipalities in order to help them navigate a rather complicated industry of health insurance and health plan administration," said Douglas Forrester, the chairman of Integrity Health.
The Partnership Health Center is for more than 500 county employees and their dependents only. It specializes in primary-care health, and patients don't have to worry about co-pays.
"We offer doctor visits, labs, x-rays, physical therapy, mental and behavioral health therapy, and a pharmacy all under one roof," Forrester added.
"We have as much time as we need with the patients. If, for some reason, we can't have a long enough of an appointment, we can bring them back the next day with no cost to them," said Kate Faust, a certified registered nurse practitioner.
"A doctor spends quality time with you to talk to you about your health issues because ultimately we want a healthy employee because they are then doing 100 percent productivity and you are driving down health care cost," said Lycoming County Commissioner Scott Metzger.
The county spent nearly $3 million of taxpayer money on the health center. All the equipment is county-owned. Commissioners say the investment is projected to save taxpayers millions of dollars in the years to come by avoiding administrative health care fees.
"The major portion of the cost is upfront to buy all the equipment and get it set up, and then you will see the savings," said Lycoming County Commissioner Tony Mussare.
"If we can find things like cancer in year two rather than year 10, we will literally save the taxpayer $1 million. By the time cancer has progressed that far the cost to stop or eradicate it is very expensive," said Lycoming County Commissioner Rick Mirabito.
The commissioners say this is the first healthcare center of its kind in Pennsylvania.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.