St. Joseph County renews Paragon employee clinic contract with Beacon Health Ventures

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 8 approved a three-year renewal with Beacon Health Ventures to continue operating the county’s Paragon employee clinic, citing substantial cost savings and expanded wellness services.

Courtney Mullins, director of finance and human resources, told the board the clinic has produced roughly $1,500,000 in cost avoidance since 2021, including about $610,000 saved last year. Mullins said the clinic’s pharmacy cost-avoidance has totaled about $330,000 since 2021 (with approximately $114,000 in savings last year) and that laboratory services have avoided roughly $242,000 in costs over the same period. She said the clinic recorded nearly 25,000 office visits since 2021 and had about 1,239 active patients on its roster, out of roughly 1,300 county employees.

Troy Scott, representing Arthur J. Gallagher, recommended the contract renewal and summarized proposed per-employee-per-month (PEPM) price changes: an increase of $5 PEPM to $55 in year one (with $1 PEPM dedicated to wellness programming), $58 in year two (again with $1 PEPM to wellness), and $60 in year three to accommodate medical inflation. Scott and Mullins also said the county will add eight hours per week of wellness coaching and implement an employee patient portal in 2025 to improve access to lab results and medical records.

Commissioners praised the clinic’s low pharmacy waste (reported at $281 since 2022) and high utilization. After brief discussion and no sustained objections, the board unanimously approved the contract renewal.

The approval extends the county’s partnership with Beacon Health Ventures for the Paragon clinic and implements the new wellness coach hours and portal over the next contract year.