The Tufts Wellness Center opened last year to provide free health services and consultations to university employees. Founded last May, the center partners with Marathon Health, a company that works with employers to provide affordable healthcare for their staff.
This [program] is very new and unique, and it is kind of revolutionizing health care, Wellness Center Director Karam Yoo, who also works as a nurse practitioner, said. Its really about having healthy and happy employees, and also making them productive because theyre happier and healthier.
On the Medford/Somerville campus, the Wellness Center is located inside the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center. Comprised of a reception area, staff offices, a conference room and two examination rooms, the Wellness Center provides Tufts employees with immediate, convenient health care that is highly accessible.
The first [benefit for employees] is that theres no copay to see us, Yoo said. Second, all of the health visits here are confidential. That means we cant share any health information with anybody without there being written consent. Third, these benefits are not only available to the employees, but also to their spouses and their same-sex domestic partners, regardless of insurance status.
According to the Wellness Center website, Tufts provides this health care without employee copays because the university sees the center as an investment to the community, and in the long run, it will reduce the cost of health care.
According to Mercy Bashir, nurse practitioner at the Wellness Center, employees can use the center for both urgent and primary care.
For the short period of time we have been here ... we average approximately 107 patients [per] month, Bashir told the Daily in an email.
The majority of the services offered are intended to check for and track health problems that may be overlooked at regular medical checkups or appointments, according to Yoo. A typical employee who comes in for either a checkup or health concern is first examined for his or her overall health status through biometric screening.
[We get a] snapshot of somebodys health, Yoo said. We get a total cholesterol, height, weight, body mass index and also a waist circumference.
The center also offers health coaching to all Tufts employees, according to Carine Corsaro, a registered nurse who works as the main health coach on the Medford/Somerville campus.
Health coaching is used to inspire people to make changes in their life by offering support, guidance and resources, Corsaro told the Daily in an email. This is achieved by having the patient identify what changes they want to make and what is realistic given their current work and life responsibilities.
The program works to improve a variety of health habits with staff members. Coaching services are offered weekly on the Boston and Grafton campuses, and daily on the Medford/Somerville campus.
Health coaching is successfully used to help with weight management, smoking cessation, stress management, fitness programs, illness and conditions of a chronic nature and other lifestyle-related issues that may negatively impact your health, Corsaro said.
Yoo also noted that the center is able to treat patients quickly. She said that each acute care visit, an appointment to receive short-term treatment, lasts about 15 minutes, while a physical lasts no longer than a half-hour.
We really can dedicate the time to speaking with our patients and to gauge our patients, and they can come as frequently as they want, Yoo said.
According to Yoo, the development of the Wellness Center moved quickly. Since its opening, the center has initiated programs focused on weight management and healthy living. Their primary weight loss plan, which is offered on all three campuses, is called Winning at Losing.
Its just a support group for an hour during lunch, Yoo said. People come together theres a voluntary weigh-in, and staff will review any topics the participants wish to learn more about.
The Wellness Center also focuses on day-to-day programming and spreading knowledge through informative seminars.
We have a walk in weigh-in, walk -in blood pressure check ... We have a mindfulness meditation and a walking group, as well, Yoo said. These are helpful on a day-to-day basis, but we also have seminars that we do periodically.
Yoo said that the feedback from employees about the center has been overwhelmingly positive. In just over nine months, the Wellness Center has seen 642 employees for health checkups and specialty programs, according to Yoo.
Ive heard a lot of people say that, since we started, the people who really utilize our services are happier, and they feel healthier knowing that theres somewhere to go, Yoo said.
Yoo also noted that there is no difference between benefits of full-time and part-time employees anyone can use the center as long as they are Tufts employees, in addition to their spouses or same-sex domestic partners. She said she hopes to spread the benefits to employees who arent conscious of the centers presence.12
