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With his companys health costs soaring and his workers struggling with high blood pressure and other medical conditions, Winston Griffin, CEO of Laurel Grocery Co., knew his company had to do something.

So the London, Kentucky, wholesaler opened a health clinic.

This story also ran on USA Today. It can be republished for free.

Our margins are tiny, so every expense is important, Griffin said. The clinic, he said, has helped lower the companys health costs and reduce employee sick leave.

Large employers have run clinics for decades. At Laurel Grocerys in-house clinic, workers can get checkups, blood tests, and other primary care needs fulfilled free, without leaving the workplace. But Griffins move is notable because of his companys size: only about 250 employees.

Nationwide, a modest number of small- and medium-size employers have set up their own health clinics at or near their workplaces, according to surveys and interviews with corporate vendors and consulting firms that help employers open such facilities.

Improving employee health and lowering health costs are among the main advantages employers cite for running clinics. But some companies also say theyre helping to blunt the nations shortage of primary care doctors and eliminate the hassle of finding and getting care.

Why did we do this? So my employees would not drop dead on the floor, Griffin said. We had such an unhealthy workforce, and drastic times called for drastic measures.

KFFs annual survey of workplace benefits this year found that about 20% of employers who offer health insurance and have 200 to 999 workers provide on-site or near-site clinics. That compares with 30% or better for employers with 1,000 or more workers.

Those figures have been relatively steady in recent years, surveys show. Email Sign-Up

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And U.S. employers reported the biggest increase this year in annual family premiums for their sponsored health plans in a decade an average jump of 7% to nearly $24,000, according to the KFF survey, released Oct. 18. That spike may intensify interest among business leaders in curbing underlying health costs, including by exploring delivering care at workplaces.

Employers dont require their workers to use their clinics but typically provide incentives such as free or reduced copayments. Griffin offered employees $150 to get a physical at the clinic; 90% took advantage of the deal, he said.

Employer clinics could alleviate the rising demand for primary care. A far lower proportion of U.S. doctors are generalists than in other advanced economies, according to data compiled by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF.

For patients, frustrating wait times are one result. A recent survey by a physician staffing firm found it now takes an average of three weeks to get in to see a family doctor.

In 2022, Franklin International, a manufacturer of adhesives in Columbus, Ohio, began offering its 450 workers the option to use local primary care clinics managed by Marathon Health, one of about a dozen companies that set up on-site or near-site health centers for employers.

Franklin employees pay nothing at the clinics compared with a $50 copayment to see an outside doctor in their insurance network. So far about 30% of its workers use the Marathon clinics, said Doug Reys, Franklins manager of compensation benefits.

We heard about the difficulty employees had to get in to a doctor, he said. They would call providers who said they were accepting new patients but would still wait months for an appointment, he added.

At the Marathon clinics which are shared by other employers workers now can see a provider within a day, he said.

Thats good for employees and for the companys recruiting efforts. It is a good benefit to say you can get free primary care, Reys said.

Not all employers that have explored opening their own clinics have seen the value. In 2020, the agency that oversees health benefits for Wisconsin state employees opted against the on-site model after a review of experiences by similar agencies in Indiana and Kentucky found it didnt save money or constrain health insurance premiums.

Kara Speer, national practice leader for consulting firm WTW, said potential cost savings from employer-run clinics can take years to accrue as employees shift from pricier hospital emergency rooms and urgent care clinics. And it can be difficult to measure whether clinics control costs by improving workers health through preventive screenings and checkups, she said.

Katie Vicars, a senior vice president at Marathon Health, said about 25% of its 250 clients are firms with fewer than 500 people. She said Marathons clinics help drive down costs and help employees get easier access to doctors who spend more time with them during appointments. Her company helps employers manage workers with chronic diseases better and redirects care from urgent care centers and ERs, she said.

Hospitals have also sought to get into the business of running on-site clinics for employers, but some potential clients question whether those health systems have incentives to funnel workers to their own hospitals and specialists.

At Laurel Grocery, Griffin said he knows many of his employees dont regularly exercise and have poor diets a reflection of the overall population in the region. Health screenings performed by a local hospital over the years found many residents with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Nothing tended to change, he said.

Laurel Grocery contracts with a local hospital for about $100,000 a year to manage its clinic, including having a physician assistant on-site three days a week. Laurel Grocery does not have access to any employee health records.

He said the clinic has saved money by reducing unnecessary ER use and reducing hospitalizations. Its been way more successful than I thought it would be, he said.

The clinic is about a three-minute walk from Kip Faulhabers office. Faulhaber, a senior vice president at Laurel Grocer who is 73, said he goes in every week for a vitamin B12 shot to treat a deficiency. He also turns to the clinic for an annual physical, vaccinations, and when he has a sinus infection but doesnt want to wait several days to see his regular physician.

This is more than convenient, he said.

[Correction: This article was updated at 4 p.m. ET on Oct. 27, 2023, to correct the name of Marathon Healths Katie Vicars.]

Phil Galewitz: pgalewitz@kff.org, @philgalewitz Related Topics Health Industry Insurance States Copayments Investigation Kentucky Ohio Primary Care Disrupted Wisconsin Contact Us Submit a Story Tip

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Dabo: ‘Feel everybody’s pain’ in Tigers’ 1-3 start

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September 21, 2025

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Dabo: 'Feel everybody's pain' in Tigers' 1-3 start

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he felt a “pain that’s hard to describe” following his team’s 34-21 home loss to Syracuse on Saturday, which dropped the Tigers to 1-3 and his worst start as the Tigers’ head coach.

“This is a bad, bad feeling. Terrible,” Swinney said. “This is what we do. This is our passion. We work incredibly hard to get results that we want to get, and when we don’t get them, it’s a pain that’s hard to describe, but it comes with the territory. So we gotta flush it. That’s all we can do. There’s no hope for a better yesterday.”

Clemson closed as a 17½-point favorite at ESPN BET but suffered its largest home loss against an unranked opponent since 2001 against North Carolina, when the Tigers lost by 35.

With losses to LSU, Georgia Tech and now Syracuse, the Tigers have lost three of their first four games for the first time under Swinney. It’s also the first time the program has started 1-3 since 2004.

Swinney conceded he was emotional on the field after the game during the school’s alma mater.

“Disappointed, painful, hurt,” he said. “I’m human. I’m not a cyborg. This is my life. I’ve been here 23 years. I love this place. I give this place the best I’ve got every single day. … I’ve invested my life here, and when I don’t get the job done, I’m responsible. I feel the pain. Not just my pain, I feel everybody’s pain. That comes with my job, and I don’t run from that.”

Clemson finished with 503 yards, its most in a loss since 2016. It’s a stunning start for Clemson, which returned the most production in the FBS (80%) this season. Quarterback Cade Klubnik has his top three receivers back from last year’s ACC championship team, and the defense was expected to be one of best fronts in the country.

“We just can’t seem to put it all together when we need it,” Swinney said.

The Tigers have a bye week before traveling to North Carolina on Oct. 4, and Swinney said it comes at a good time because the team is “beat up emotionally and physically.”

“There’s no quit in me and I didn’t see any quit in our team or our staff,” he said. “We’ll get back to work. We have to reset our goals and what we still can do. We can’t sit around and dwell on missed opportunities. … It’s basically an eight-game season for us at this point. We’ve just gotta fight our tails off to find a way to win a game, create some momentum.”

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Badgers AD backs team amid ‘Fire Fickell’ chants

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September 21, 2025

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Badgers AD backs team amid 'Fire Fickell' chants

  • Adam RittenbergSep 20, 2025, 06:48 PM ET

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      College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.

Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh voiced his support for coach Luke Fickell and the program Saturday after Maryland handed the Badgers a 27-10 home loss, which featured several “Fire Fickell!” chants by the student section.

Speaking with the Wisconsin State Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, McIntosh shared his “belief in the program and the people around our program, specifically Luke,” and reiterated his support for the players. Fickell fell to 15-15 in two-plus seasons as Wisconsin coach after consecutive losses to Alabama and Maryland. He is under contract through the 2031 season and is earning $7.7 million this fall.

The Badgers were booed as they headed to the locker room down 20-0 to Maryland at halftime and didn’t reach the end zone until 28 seconds remained in the fourth quarter.

“When you have kids that have given it all and are faced with, as a program, adversity like this, I think it’s a time for our people to come together,” McIntosh told the two outlets. “I think it’s a time for me to express my support.”

McIntosh, a former Wisconsin offensive lineman, fired coach Paul Chryst midway through the 2022 season and hired Fickell, who guided Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff in 2021. Although Fickell had no direct ties to Wisconsin — unlike Chryst and Jim Leonhard, the team’s interim coach in 2022 — Fickell’s hire was largely celebrated.

The Badgers have endured several quarterback injuries during Fickell’s tenure but could be in danger of missing bowl games in consecutive seasons for the first time since a stretch from 1985 to 1992. Fickell is 78-40 as an FBS coach.

McIntosh acknowledged the fans’ sentiment, saying, “Apathy is worst case, and so we’re far from that.” He also said he isn’t concerned about his job security. McIntosh is under contract through June 2029.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in the building that thinks that where we are at this moment in time right now, this is what Wisconsin football is,” he said Saturday. “… I’ll come back to what I said earlier: What’s left to be done about that? What’s left to be done about that is to learn from what happened on a day like today and grow.”

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TCU, Dykes prevail in 104th and final Iron Skillet

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September 21, 2025

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TCU, Dykes prevail in 104th and final Iron Skillet

  • Dave WilsonSep 20, 2025, 05:20 PM ET

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      Dave Wilson is a college football reporter. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.

FORT WORTH, Texas — After 104 meetings, the TCU–SMU Iron Skillet rivalry is over, with the Horned Frogs claiming the final edition 35-24 on Saturday.

TCU coach Sonny Dykes, who has been on both sides of the rivalry as head coach at SMU before moving west to Fort Worth, has been vocal that he doesn’t think the series should continue.

“It’s college football, it’s business and people have to make business decisions,” he said. “Sometimes nobody likes ’em.”

Last season, SMU won 66-42, and Dykes was ejected from the game after getting two consecutive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for arguing with referees. He said he has heard from plenty of SMU fans about why he didn’t want to play the Mustangs anymore.

Dykes won his last two games at SMU against the Frogs and Gary Patterson, then beat SMU his first two years at TCU in 2022 and 2023 before last year’s loss.

“I think the idea is that Coach Dykes is scared of the Iron Skillet game. Five outta the last six is what we won,” he said before referencing a 1970s power ballad by Meat Loaf, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.”

“I think that’s a Meat Loaf song, right? Five outta six ain’t bad?” he asked. “So yeah, I ain’t too scared.”

TCU was led by quarterback Josh Hoover, who was 22-of-40 for 379 yards, five touchdowns and an interception, along with a breakout performance from wide receiver Eric McAlister, a Boise State transfer from Azle High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. McAlister had eight catches for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He lost another when SMU defensive back Jaelyn Davis-Robinson wrestled the ball away from him in the end zone for an interception, and he also had a catch in the end zone that was ruled incomplete. The game wasn’t stopped for a review, but Dykes said afterward that the officials on the field said they were powerless to ask for a review because the booth had already reviewed it and ruled it incomplete.

“I saw the video,” McAlister said afterward. “That was two feet down. That’s good in the league.”

McAlister said it was important to claim this last win over the Mustangs.

“We see those guys out on the streets every day no matter where it’s at. It’s Dallas, so it’s not that far,” he said. “They might never sign this contract again. So at least we’ve got bragging rights.”

TCU discovered the Iron Skillet was broken while it was in its possession in 2018, and sources said it was hastily replaced with a Lodge Cast Iron skillet from a hardware store shortly before the game. On Saturday, Dykes was asked, given the skillet has had some issues in the past, what he would do with it now that it was in TCU’s possession indefinitely.

“Probably get a sledgehammer and break it,” he joked. “I don’t know. Our players have it right now and they’re excited about it. We took a picture. Now we’ll probably cook something in it.”

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