Amazon is opening neighborhood health clinics for its employees and their families, the retail giant announced this week.
The first health center will be in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, home to more than 20,000 Amazon employees, including 11,000 working in operations. Overall, the company plans to open 20 health centers in five cities across the U.S.–Phoenix, Louisville, Detroit and San Bernardino, California, in addition to Dallas-Fort Worth–to provide care for roughly 115,000 employees and their families.
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Amazon says it will look to roll out additional health centers if the pilot is successful.
The clinics–located near Amazon fulfillment centers–will be operated and staffed by Crossover Health, a national medical group that works with employers on onsite or nearby clinics for employees.
Darcie Henry, Amazon’s vice president of human resources, said the clinics will provide a range of primary care services for employees–important, she says, because many patients do not have easy access to those services and instead utilize emergency or urgent care options.
“[Those options] are not only more expensive for patients, but also overlook important preventative care opportunities,” she says.
The company’s clinics were in the works before the pandemic, but they are being launched during an important time as many employees are at-risk and need care during the age of COVID-19. Although Amazon extended its work-from-home policy for corporate employees to 2021, employees working in warehouses have to be onsite to continue their work. It is unclear if Amazon’s clinics will provide COVID-19 care or testing.
