Columbus approves contract for employee clinic - WLTZ 38 | Columbus Georgia Regional News & Community

By Sara Belsole

COLUMBUS, GA - Columbus one step closer today to having a city employee clinic.

At Tuesday's council meeting, the city approved a contract with TransformHealthRx, a company out of Statesboro, Georgia, to provide the medical services.

The need for the clinic became apparent when the city was hit with an unexpected $3 million healthcare deficit earlier this year.

It will cost the city $75,000 to start up and the city will be billed about $35,000 a month for salaries and supplies.

But the clinic will prevent employees' premiums from rising and save the city more than $1 million  the first year.

The next step is to decide where the clinic will be located.

"The Mayor has scheduled a meeting for later this month to discuss all the location options and at that time we will come forward and have a better idea of where we will locate the clinic," Tom Barron, Director of Human Resources, says.

The city says it will consider the soon-to-be vacant areas of the Government Center, but will probably lean more towards an existing medical facility for the clinic.