Benefits committee weighs replacing full-time health coach with additional clinic provider, pilots Omada and FoodSmart programs

On June 2, 2021, the City of Clearwater Benefits Committee discussed a proposal to eliminate the city’s full-time health coach position (paid through Cigna’s administrative fees) and use that funding to convert a per‑diem clinic provider to salaried status to increase access to clinical appointments.

The chair handed the floor to Sean Fleming, a consultant with the Garing Group, who opened the item and described the staff recommendation. "On the coaching program, as you all know, we have the clinic," Fleming said, and explained the current arrangement: the wellness coordinator and health coach are funded through the administrative portion of the city’s Cigna contract while clinical staff costs are billed separately to the city. Fleming said the health coach was added in February 2019 and is well liked but is being underutilized compared with original expectations.

Why it matters: Committee members said improving access to primary and urgent care at the on‑site clinic is the top priority. Committee discussion framed the proposed change as a reallocation rather than a personnel discipline: use part of the administrative funding that now pays a full‑time health coach to fund more consistent clinical hours from a provider currently paid per diem, identified in the discussion as Yolanda…