Ribbon cutting Franciscan Working Well

On Thursday the newly opened Franciscan Working Well office in Rensselaer had its ribbon cutting and an open house. There were quite a few Franciscan people from the north, but few of them got into the picture.

Before the ribbon cutting, the office had a blessing, and you can see a picture of that here. Because it was scheduled an hour before the ribbon cutting, I did not attend.

Working Well is an occupational health clinic. What that means is that it is a clinic that does examinations and urgent care for businesses. Its medical services are not much different from those of any other clinic, but it tracks everything with specialized software, and that tracking makes it easier for businesses to meet the various OSHA and Workman's Compensation requirements. This type of clinic would not exist if it were not for a variety of state and federal regulations.

The local office is across the highway from the Jasper County Hospital in a building that was built by Dr. Greene and more recently occupied by Dr. Beaver. I had never been in the building before, but those who had said that it was completely remodeled and redecorated. The clinic has four examination rooms like the one below and a procedure room on the west end.

 On the east end is a room that will house the x-ray equipment when it arrives and some testing equipment for hearing. There are OSHA rules that require workers in especially noisy workplaces to have annual hearing tests. The booth is soundproof, and it would make a good place to send your teenagers who want to play their music at extremely high decibels.

 The office will start with a staff of four: the doctor who had been in their Munster office but who lives in Lowell, two technicians, and a office supervisor. Two of the staff live in the Rensselaer area and one is from Wheatfield. I did not get to talk to them until the very end because a worker from a local company came into the facility with an injury when the open house was starting and it took about an hour to get him fixed up and ready to leave.

I asked why they located in Rensselaer and was told that there was a demand for their services. There is no other occupational medicine office nearby, so they will serve the region. Though they will be only occupational medicine for the time being, they may add other services in the future.

One of their people at the event was a lady whose job it is to get new offices up and running. She has contacted many of the area businesses telling them about Working Well's services. A few weeks ago she gave a presentation to the Rensselaer City Council. This new office is attractive to businesses because it cuts their costs. It should be something that will make Rensselaer more attractive to businesses thinking of moving here.

This is as far south as the Franciscan Alliance group that is headquartered in Lake or Porter Counties has come. Their previous most southerly location is a clinic in Demotte. St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette is part of the Franciscan Alliance, but has separate management.

For more information on Working Well, see their website. You might also want to look at the website of the Franciscan Alliance.

The office is decorated with pictures that are in the collection of the Jasper County Historical Society. The wagon says "Jasper County Telephone."

 There was food catered by a company from St. John. They brought this odd contraption to serve punch.

 The office is open five days a week from 8am to 4:30 pm.

At the open house I asked a city official what was happening with the solar panel farm on the east edge of Rensselaer. She said it was almost finished, but needed some kind of equipment that would act as a backflow regulator. I did not understand what that meant.