Amazon tests health care center
First health center has opened in Dallas-Fort Worth area
Amazon is testing a new health care center pilot program in partnership with Crossover Health to bring convenient care to warehouse workers.
The tech giant's first Neighborhood Health Center in operation is based near its Dallas-Fort Worth fulfillment center, which has more than 20,000 employees.
"Across the U.S., an increasing number of patients do not have easy access to a primary care physician and instead utilize emergency or urgent care options, which is not only more expensive for patients, but also overlooks important preventative care opportunities," Darcie Henry, Amazon’s vice president of human resources, said in a Tuesday statement.
Henry said Amazon wants to solve that issue for its employees, and the new health care program will "provide a range of quality primary care services for employees across the country—further strengthening Amazon’s industry-leading benefits program, which provides comprehensive health care for employees starting on day one of employment."
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 179.17 | -2.11 | -1.16% |
If successful, Amazon plans to extend the program into 20 health centers serving more than 115,000 employees in Dallas, Phoenix, Louisville, Detroit and San Bernardino, California, plus others in the future.
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There have been a number of instances in which Amazon employees across the country staged walkouts, boycotts and spoke out publicly during the coronavirus pandemic in protest of what they felt to be a lack of concern from the company regarding the safety of its essential workers.
Gerald Bryson, left, joins workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, N.Y., protesting conditions in the company's warehouse, Monday, March 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
At least nine Amazon workers have died of the virus.
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Amazon has implemented 150 "significant process changes" since the pandemic began, such as social-distancing rules, temperature checks, required personal protective equipment, more handwashing facilities, a virtual health clinic and daily health audits, but some employees say staff and management are not enforcing the rules.
One employee was fired in March for protesting the company's handling of the pandemic, and two other designers said they were let go after publicly voicing concerns.
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