Dougherty officials show off new wellness center

ALBANY — Dougherty County employees will have access to an additional health care amenity starting next week when the county’s newly completed employee health and wellness center opens.

The county held an open house Monday to show off the center, which will initially open for 20 hours a week to provide primary health care for employees who are participating in the county’s insurance program.

“Preventive care has become a huge piece in health care coverage, so this is a big step forward for the county and its employees,” County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said. “This will increase the overall engagement our employees will have with medical service. A lot of our folks have been with us a long time, and for some of them it’s become kind of taboo to take off work to go to a doctor. Now they can schedule appointments through work.”

County Administrator Richard Crowdis said construction of the center was completed by Albany-based general contractor Newell Construction Co. ahead of schedule.

“We’re planning now to move into the facility the last of this week and open the center to our employees the following week,” the county official said.

Administration of the wellness center will be provided by Brentwood, Tenn.-based CareHere, which has administered the city of Albany’s similar facility for the past two years. CareHere’s Duane Eggert, the director of clinical services for the company, said the county’s plan is ideal for its employees.

“This is a perfect location, an area that will be easy for employees to get to,” Eggert said. “Preventive care is a huge part of the health care industry today, and businesses that have group health plans say they’re seeing great results from programs like ours. We have programs that will allow us to identify employees’ issues early, and that’s been shown to lower health care costs.

“We’ve had success with the city program, and with providers from the local area, we think this is going to be a resource that will have a positive impact on the county’s health care costs.”

Cohilas said there is an additional plus to the clinic, which is located at 114 N. Jackson St.

“This is another solid piece in the infrastructure of developing downtown,” the County Commission chairman said. “It’s another solid tenant — essentially a medical practice — with regular foot traffic. Trust me, that was not done by accident.

“Any redevelopment project must have anchors, and we’re excited to provide one for our downtown. The process is a matter of laying bricks, and you have to keep laying them one-by-one.”