New John Muir Health Program Helps Employers Reopen

John Muir Health has long been known as a leader in health care in the San Francisco Bay Area. The not-for-profit integrated system of doctors, hospitals, and other services provides a wealth of health resources to its patients. The John Muir Health Pleasanton Outpatient Center, which has been located at Hacienda for nearly five years, offers internal and family medicine, pediatric medicine, urgent care, medical imaging, specialty care, and lab services.

Employers, insurance brokers, and health plans can also benefit from another service provided by John Muir Health to help employees stay healthy, productive, and engaged. The Employer Broker Relations department has worked with Bay Area employers for more than 25 years providing onsite services to meet the healthcare needs of the entire workforce. Employees are eligible to participate regardless of their health plan or provider. John Muir Health acts as a third party, ensuring participant privacy and trust.

In response to the pandemic, John Muir Health recently introduced a new worksite program to help employers manage the process of reopening offices that were closed or largely closed as a result of Covid-19. The Safe to Return: Covid-19 Employee Safety Program offers guidelines for reopening businesses in ways that help protect employees and customers and mitigate risk based on the organization's own experience as an employer as well as its healthcare expertise.

With the rapid onset of Covid-19, John Muir Health activated a number of measures to make its workplace as safe as possible. Those measures included universal masking for all clinicians, staff, patients, and visitors. Before entering any facilities, all patients, visitors, staff, and clinicians undergo routine temperature monitoring and symptom screening. The organization has continued to focus on handwashing and social distancing at all its locations and while providing all services. In its hospitals, John Muir Health follows all industry standard guidelines by cleaning every occupied inpatient room daily and also thoroughly cleans and disinfects every vacant room before the next patient arrives. It also maintains adequate supplies of personal protective equipment such as face masks and disposable gloves so that clinicians and staff have the protection they need to keep themselves and patients safe.

The Safe to Return: Covid-19 Employee Safety Program draws on the experience of John Muir Health, but is also tailored to the specific needs of each employer. John Muir Health can apply CDC guidelines, an employer's industry guidelines, and local public health orders to develop a custom safety program. Many employers and their staff welcome the kind of support the program offers because returning to the workplace can feel scary for some employees, according to Sharon Jenkins, Director of Employer Broker Relations & Worksite Wellness.

During one company presentation for returning employees, "when the employer said, 'John Muir Health is here to guide us,' I literally saw everybody's shoulders just relax," says Jenkins. "We have a broad expertise. We have never closed down. We have been grappling with these issues ourselves. Employers don't have to reinvent the wheel. We can come and help you."

Additional workplace services and programs include health screenings, health assessments, testing, flu vaccination, weight management, and worksite wellness seminars. There are more than a score of seminars; topics range from Common Workplace Injuries to Lab Ergonomics to Medicare 101 to Mindful Eating to Workstation Design. Most of the seminars are also available in webinar form. John Muir Health's experienced staff of exercise physiologists, health educators, registered nurses, registered dietitians, and physical and occupational therapists also design customized prevention programs for organizations of all sizes.

For more information about John Muir Health, please visit www.johnmuirhealth.com/locations/outpatient-center-pleasanton.html.

For more information about John Muir's Worksite Wellness programs, please visit www.johnmuirhealth.com/about-john-muir-health/employer-brokers/worksite-wellness-programs.html .

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