Amy’s Kitchen is a family-owned company that takes pride in treating its employees like family, and that includes the healthcare services it provides for its workers.
For the past 10 years, employees and their dependents have had access to on-site, bilingual medical centers at all three of its production facilities, where the company makes its hand-rolled burritos and wraps, frozen entrées, canned soups and other products, mostly from organic ingredients.
Amy’s launched the medical centers in 2012 after realizing that many of its workers were suffering from chronic illnesses and were not availing themselves of the benefits offered through their health insurance, which is self-funded by Amy’s. The company determined that there were several barriers to more widespread use of insurance, including long wait times for doctor visits and other obstacles, such as language issues.
“The intention was initially to look at a way to reduce spend and offer more services to our employees,” said Carme Lewis, senior director of people shared services at Amy’s. “As the process and the journey continued, there was a point of reflection by Rachel Berliner, our co-founder, that we really could do good things and take care of our employees.”
The company partnered with Vera Whole Health, a Seattle-based provider of what are called “advanced primary care” solutions. The facilities are designed to function much like a traditional primary care physician’s office, with a focus on preventive care, wellness, and management of chronic diseases.
Staff include physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical assistants as well as health coaches at each location that work with patients on the lifestyle changes that may be needed to manage their health. The centers can handle some emergency care, such as providing stitches, but are not set up as urgent care clinics, Lewis explained.
Amy’s employees and their families can obtain a variety of services, including annual exams, cancer screenings, immunizations and other care. The medical centers conduct blood work on site, and can provide patients with a starter pack of medication if the blood work dictates that course of action. All services are provided at no cost to Amy’s workers and their dependents, and are available beginning on the day they are hired.
Amy’s and Vera Whole Health worked together to make sure the centers were bilingual, as a large percentage of Amy’s workers and their families speak Spanish.
Two of the centers are located on-site, and the third is a short walk away from the plant, ensuring that access to care is convenient for workers and their families, Lewis said. Employees who work in other areas of the country have access to telehealth services.
The company spends about $45 million per year overall on medical care for its workers, less than 10 percent of which is used to operate the centers, Lewis said.
Although specific information about patient use of the medical centers is not shared with the company, Amy’s estimates that about 80 percent-plus of its employees have accessed the health centers at some point, Lewis said. For patients who are engaged with the services — defined as someone who visits two times or more — the results have been positive, with improved management of diseases such as asthma, diabetes and other conditions.
Feedback from employees has always been positive, Lewis said.
“We view our health centers as an extension of our Amy's family, so we work hard with the Vera team to find providers and medical assistants that are very aligned with our culture and our employee population,” said Lewis.
The system is designed to have minimal wait times, and offers appointments as long as 90 minutes, as opposed to the much shorter appointments that many medical providers commonly offer.
“It's about spending time with the patient and getting to know them and understanding them, so they are treating the whole person, and not just what they might be coming into the health center for,” said Lewis.
Additional programs include services such as mobile mammogram units, administered by a third party and integrated with the health centers for follow-up.
“The health centers have literally saved lives,” said Lewis. “Those stories get out, and employees feel very good about that. I think that the general theme has been that Amy's really cares about our employees, and this is one of the ways that we've shown it.
“We are very proud of it, and feel like it's a great fit with our culture,” she said.
The 10-year anniversary of the healthcare centers comes as the company has been accused of providing poor working conditions and union-busting, which Amy’s denies, rebutting the accusations in detail on its website.
“We have worked diligently to research and ensure that our working conditions are aligned with our values, policies and practices and are in full compliance with all regulations,” the company said in a statement.
The company also said its workers have always been free to unionize and have not chosen to do so.