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County declines new Deaconess wellness contract after cost increase, modifies employee wellness requirement
Summary
After being told Deaconess proposed raising the on-site wellness educator rate from $40 to $57.50 per hour (plus mileage), Dubois County commissioners voted to decline the new agreement and remove quarterly health-educator requirements from the employee wellness plan.
County staff presented a proposed new contract from Deaconess (Memorial Hospital transition) that would raise on-site wellness-educator fees from $40/hour to $57.50/hour and add a mileage fee for travel outside Jasper. Benefits staff said the county’s projected annual cost would increase from about $11,108 to roughly $15,967.75, an increase of about $5,000.
Commissioners expressed concern about the magnitude of the price increase and the operational burden of tracking quarterly wellness coaching. Unidentified Speaker 8, presenting options, said the proposed new tier would include monthly programming, lunch-and-learn events and other services but acknowledged the county historically had low employee participation in some programming.
Unidentified Speaker 1 moved that the county not sign the new agreement with Deaconess Wellness Solutions and that the wellness plan be modified to remove the quarterly health-educator requirement. The board voted the motion in the affirmative.
Next steps: County staff will notify Deaconess in writing of the county’s decision and modify employee benefit materials to reflect the changed wellness requirements. The county will consider options for 2027.
