District staff on Tuesday presented trustees with the findings of a health‑clinic vendor search and recommended Marathon Health as the selected vendor to operate a Round Rock ISD employee health and wellness center if the board chooses to proceed.

Why the district considered a clinic: Round Rock ISD is self‑insured; health‑insurance costs have risen and the district projected deficits under a no‑change scenario. District benefits leaders said employees reported strong interest in a district clinic: a November survey returned roughly 1,900 responses in six days. Staff and the district’s health‑benefits consultants (Marsh McLellan/MMA) said a clinic can reduce out‑of‑pocket costs for employees, improve access to preventive care and — if utilization is high enough — reduce total claims cost by steering care to lower‑cost, coordinated services.

Vendor selection and model: eight vendors responded to the RFP; Marathon Health and one other vendor were finalists. Marathon, a national vendor with a K–12 practice, currently operates 720 centers and serves about 3 million lives nationwide; staff said Marathon offered a dedicated education‑sector account team. Marathon proposed a 10‑year model in which Marathon would finance the buildout and equipment. Marathon’s proposal would require a monthly administrative fee (quoted in staff slides at roughly $20,000/month), staffing and operating costs; Marathon would pay initial construction costs and the district would not place a capital outlay on the district balance sheet at startup. At the end of the 10‑year period the district could take ownership of the physical clinic (contract terms to be negotiated).

Timeline and scope: staff said Marathon indicated they could be ready to open a clinic as early as January 2026, depending on contractual and space decisions. The initial services would include primary and preventive care, women’s health, chronic‑condition management, urgent‑care hours during operation, mental‑health services, an on‑site or fulfillment pharmacy option and virtual care after hours. District staff said dependents could be eligible and that the pharmacy model and dependent access require negotiated contract language.

Costs and projected savings: staff presented utilization‑based analyses prepared by MMA. Under a conservative first‑year utilization assumption (30 percent of eligible employees using the clinic), Marathon’s materials and consultant modeling showed an estimated net saving of roughly $250,000 in year one. With a higher utilization assumption (42 percent), modeled savings rose by roughly $1 million in the first year. Staff presented a first‑year operating cost estimate of about $3,352,000; the district’s self‑insurance fund balance was described as approximately $43 million. District consultants cautioned these are forecast models and depend on actual use of the clinic and contract details.

Liability and operations: Marathon would staff and insure the clinic; Marathon carries general liability and medical‑malpractice insurance, staff said. The district would negotiate contract terms, indemnification and insurance limits; trustees asked legal counsel to review those provisions.

Questions from trustees ranged from patient privacy and grievance channels to outreach plans to drive utilization. Staff said they would meet weekly with the vendor during implementation, that communications would include site visits and targeted outreach to campus staff lines (transportation barns, custodial teams, etc.), and that implementation would be coordinated with open‑enrollment and benefits communications. No vote was taken Tuesday; staff asked for trustee direction before final contract execution.