Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation and UPMC and Central PA Podcast, In Their Words. In episode one, we heard from Maureen Zimmerman, Director of Corporate Wellness for Corporate Ambassador Resource and Employer Solutions at UPMC, Central PA. Otherwise known as CARES.

 She shared an inside look at how CARES supports employers and engages thousands of employees in their health. In this episode, we continue that conversation with Jesse from Quandel, an organization that partners with CARES to bring biometric screenings and wellness services directly to its workforce.

Jesse offers a firsthand perspective on what it's like to coordinate these services and the impact they have on employees and their families. CARES, Corporate Ambassador Resource and Employer Solutions was created by UPMC in Central PA with local employers in mind. Today, CARES partners with hundreds of organizations and nearly 100,000 employees across Central Pennsylvania. The program provides work site wellness, occupational health, network arrangements, and personalized care management to help improve health outcomes and manage the cost of healthcare coverage.

Jessie Meyers: My name is Jesse Meyers and I've worked with Quandel for five years. My position is the People Experience Partner. I run pretty much the day-to-day of our HR department. I mainly handle most of our benefits, so I'm the, I guess you could say benefit manager. And I also work with just our employees on any, pretty much anything that they have questions about. They come to me about all of that stuff. Fun stuff. Um, so I started like right before all of our biometrics started in 2020. So I didn't have a lot of hands-on experience with it that first year that I was here. But then the second year, in 2021, is whenever I started handling everything that I do with them now.

So I worked with Maureen. They already knew us really well, so I didn't feel like I really had to do anything because they already knew everything and, how we handle stuff and just the setup. And some of them even knew our employees already because they've been coming to us for so long. So the CARES team made it so easy for me to just kind of fall into that, because my manager was not here anymore. So it was then my time to do it on my own. So, I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants, but, it worked, it was fine. So generally the team will come in the night before, at least two nurses will come in and they will set up our meeting rooms for themselves. So I don't have to handle any of that.

I don't even have to like really be with them. They just know what to do. And then the day of, I'm kind of going around to our employees saying, Hey, like you can go start checking in now. The CARES staff kind of has their own flow down and they do a really great job. I never have to check with them other than to be like, do we have anyone open?

Can I call someone sooner? Um, those types of things. So they handle it all. They honestly make it so easy. I have to worry about nothing, which is awesome. So in this office we have about 50 people. They don't all come to the biometric screening, but we have them twice a year, so that does make it a little bit easier.

I would say we probably get 30 people for both. So we get a lot and spouses are also able to come. So if we have a spouse that's enrolled in our medical insurance, they're able to come as well. So we have four screeners that are usually here, plus two people for flu shots and a registration person. So we're usually jam packed with the CARES staff and then all of our employees.

And then we also do them in every site in the fall. So then we have five or six different locations that happen throughout the month of September and October. Our total employee count is like 230, so we probably screen half of that.

That's my guess is we do about half of that through CARES. Yeah. So I actually just had someone that came to me last week or the week before, whenever we had it here. And he was like, my numbers last year were not that great. It was the first time he ever did one with us. It was, he was a brand new employee and he said, this year my numbers are drastically down.

I've lost a ton of weight, I've changed eating habits, I've changed my exercise habits. So he was able to compare from last year to this year and like he is drastically healthier than he was last year, which is just amazing. If one person can do that, that's all that we ask for. So yeah. And our staff really takes to the nurses sitting with them and they give them pointers and we get flyers and all that kind of stuff.

So the nurses are really great with our employees too. A lot of them actually remember, most of our employees, if they've done it years and years upon years, so we'll have them, oh hey, I remember you from last year, and those kinds of things. So that's also really nice to kind of see.

Host: For employers like Quandel, CARES has become a trusted and seamless partner. Their biometric screenings, wellness consultations and onsite services make preventative care accessible by meeting employees where they are. CARES manages the coordination, set up and delivery, allowing organizations to focus on their people while the CARES team handles the rest.

As Jesse describes, the CARES nurses combine clinical expertise with genuine warmth. They remember employees from year to year, offer guidance that is easy to understand and create an encouraging environment for individuals who may be checking their numbers for the first time, or monitoring long-term progress. With spouses now able to participate, these screenings support entire households and reinforce wellness program requirements that benefit both employees and employers.

CARES also stays connected to the broader business community through round tables, executive meetings, surveys, and broker collaborations. This ensures that the program continues to evolve and respond to the changing needs of Central Pennsylvania employers.

Jessie Meyers: I mean, I think one of the biggest things for us is we have a wellness program that one of the steps is having to have a biometric screening in order to earn a credit, a wellness credit on their paycheck.

So we pay them for completing a program and one of the steps is meeting with your doctor, or some people are like, well, this is the only time I ever get blood work done. So they do it with the CARES team and each year that's the only time they look at it and good for them. But, I love that we provide it for our employees and it's free to our employees.

It doesn't even go towards like a deductible or anything like that. And they're getting quality care because otherwise, some of them probably would never go to the doctor. So, so like at least we are helping them to have that one point of contact at any time, just to get that result of what's going on with them.

So, I will say we're part of the KBP program. I don't know if you know much about that, but one of the things that they have is a partners in health committee, which I'm the co-chair of, and we talk about different ways to help the member companies keep their employees healthy. And I think every time I talk about it, I'm like, if you guys need a biometric group, call CARES.

Let me know. I'll give you my contact because it's so easy. I literally ha I really have nothing, have to do nothing other than pick dates with Lori and then they show up that's all. I have never had an issue with any of them. The last one that we had, one of the nurse's car batteries died. And I was like, it's fine if you guys know what to do, like I'm good with whatever.

And they instantly knew what to do and we had, it was as if we planned for her to not be there the whole time. It was awesome. And the rest of the nurses too, like they're so incredibly nice and encouraging to our employees and I get snacks and stuff for our people because they're not allowed to eat, so we try to give them some food afterwards.

And one of the nurses last year, I think she said, you're doing a great job of having snacks for them. I would just maybe consider these ones because they're a little bit more healthy after you've been fasting. And I'm like, well I never thought about that. Because I just want to feed them. I don't want them to be mad at me anymore because they're hungry.

So what food can I give them? And she's like, just try to look for these things instead of, you know. So even just giving me some pointers to make sure that our employees are staying healthy and keeping them happy at the same time. They're, yes, the nurses are just great. I can't say enough about them. I want them to be my nurse at my doctor's office.

Like, can you just be mine? I think most of them are very receptive to it. One, because it's here or it's at their office location. They don't have to make an appointment to leave work, to go somewhere else, to have it done, to go back to talk to their doctor longer. They sit with someone for 15 minutes, get the results, and then they can take them to their doctor and follow up if they need to.

I've never heard anything not positive. The fact that now we're also allowing spouses to be involved is also another really big help for them. Because spouses have to complete their wellness program as well in order for our employees to get credit. So if they don't, if their spouse doesn't complete it, our employees don't get the credit.

Because our spouses make up our most medical spend. So their spouse is on our insurance for a reason. If you want to be on our insurance, fine, but you have to do this to be healthy as well. Lori already knows how much I love them, so, the whole team, I literally will recommend them to anybody that would ever ask.

How do I set up a biometric screening? Call Lori and her team because they're amazing.

Host: CARES is more than a workplace wellness service. It is a partnership built on trust, compassion, and a shared commitment to healthier communities. Jesse's experience at Quandel shows the meaningful difference that accessible, supportive preventative care can make in the daily lives of employees. Thank you for listening to, In Their Words. If you found this episode valuable, please like, rate, review and share it with others.

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