A Medical Department Without Walls

Time was when all an employee had to do when they didn’t feel well was to go and see the company doctor or nurse. They knew everyone by name and were able to cure “whatever ailed the staff.” 

Today that is no longer possible as companies have grown regionally and globally. For whatever reason—lack of healthcare insurance, lack of knowledge, lack of time—people don’t always seek out medical assistance when they are ill. 

Not only does this pose a threat for coworkers, but in some industries it could have disastrous consequences to the patrons who avail themselves of the companies’ services. 

Complicated Times

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the foodservice and hospitality industry. “We’re living in very complicated times that are becoming more complicated by the minute,” says Roslyn Stone, COO of Corporate Wellness. 

The Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based business was founded almost 18 years ago to function as a health services company for the workplace medical needs of its clients, which consist of mid-size and larger companies. 

The company is available on a daily basis for routine occupational health services such as physicals and drug screening. Corporate Wellness also provides help in the event of an unusual occurrence such as infectious diseases or foodborne illness.  “We are a company health service without walls,” says Stone. 

Corporate Wellness’ initial focus in the industry was in the area of crisis response. They soon realized, however, that crisis prevention comes before crisis response. “We would much rather have [a client] avoid a crisis rather than manage one,” she states. 

Born of a Request

“Studies from The Journal of the American Medical Association show that ROI on a single flu shot is about $50 or $7 per dollar spent,” says Stone. 

Several years ago Corporate Wellness was asked to provide onsite flu shots to a fast-growing restaurant group. “In 1990, their first year as our client, they had 50 units, by the next year they nearly doubled that,” she says. 

Health Crisis Manual

The foodservice company’s director of operations was given the job of compiling a crisis manual. He identified 10 types of crises requiring a response plan, which ranged from fires and natural disasters to foodborne illness and product recall. 

“Three of the categories were medical involving the wellbeing of employees or guests,” says Stone.  The director approached Corporate Wellness with the challenge of harnessing the same resources they had used to provide onsite flu shots to deal with the challenges of other health situations.

 

Insert:

Early Intervention

The CDC estimates that foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.  Corporate Wellness promotes early intervention. Clients are encouraged to call early and often even if they are uncertain if it is a genuine emergency. “Someone calls back within 15 minutes of getting a message on our hotline,” states Stone.

Calls received on the 800 number run the gamut of potentially hazardous situations.

• It is midnight when a manager finally gets to read a doctor’s note brought in by an employee upon his return to work. The note says the employee has infectious tuberculosis and should remain quarantined at home for two weeks.
• A local TV reporter and camera crew arrives at a restaurant to follow up on a story that a daycare center in the area is experiencing a hepatitis A outbreak. They had been informed that some of the employees at the daycare center also worked at the restaurant.
• The fourth customer complaint comes in on Sunday morning reporting that several people became violently ill after having eaten at a particular restaurant the night before. The next call is from the local health department. The question now is to determine if it is a foodborne illness or a stomach virus that is making the rounds.

 

Corporate Wellness’ medical response team was developed from that request and has become the fastest growing segment of its business. 

Hear No Evil…

Stone lists the two major ways restaurant groups fail in averting a crisis. First, they have nothing in place taking a “hear no evil, see no evil approach.” Second, they feel they are capable of handling a crisis. 

She also points to the fact that some organizations are prepared for a crisis but their vendors are not. “Some restaurants operators have been going to unapproved vendors,” she says. “If they run out of tomatoes on a Friday night, they’ll go to the local grocery store rather than their distributor.” 

14-Day Window

Another issue is employees who are infected with a disease such as hepatitis A. Unlike hepatitis B and C, which are bloodborne, hepatitis A is transmitted by the fecal-oral route. Illness occurs when there is direct contact with an infected person or by the consumption of contaminated food or water. 

Stone says there is a 14-day window to respond to a hepatitis A outbreak and to get staff members inoculated. 

“You might get noticed on day 12,” she states. “We can dispatch a nurse to any restaurant in roughly four hours to administer immunoglobulin shots,” she adds. 

The test for hepatitis A is about $35 and nine out of 10 tests come back negative according to Stone. “Restaurant operators and managers have to make sure that the correct tests are ordered and performed,” she says. 

Be ProActive

If there is an outbreak, be proactive she says. “Notify the health department before they notify you.” 

Coworkers should be made aware of the situation. Managers are encouraged to keep an employee out of work with the promise of giving them extra hours the following week, thereby protecting the staffer’s income. 

Stone instills the following mantra in her clients: Do the right thing and be honest and you’ll be okay.

 

Sidepanel:

Hepatitis A

Disease Summary:

Hepatitis A virus is a communicable disease that may be foodborne, but is also transmitted through person-to-person contact via the fecal-oral route in settings such as daycare centers and hospitals by persons who do not adequately wash their hands after restroom use. In the foodservice industry, the primary controls for hepatitis A are proper training and effective supervision of employees to ensure good hygienic practices, proper handwashing and safe handling of food and tableware. 

Symptoms:

• Abrupt fever
• Fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Abdominal discomfort
• Jaundice
• Dark urine
• Joint aches

Symptoms of this infection usually occur within 15-50 days following exposure. The greatest risk of illness transmission from an infected person is one week before until one week after symptoms first appear.

Common source outbreaks have been related to:

• Contaminated water
• Food contaminated by infected foodhandlers, especially food that is not cooked after handling
• Raw or undercooked shellfish from contaminated waters
  

Control:

• Food-protection education
• Minimized manual contact with food and food contact surfaces
• Good personal hygiene and handwashing
• Approved food sources
• Proper food cooking temperatures
• Vaccines for active immunization
  

Source: National Restaurant Association