Disney World

The Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile , Research)., which says it employs more people in one place than any other company in the United States, announced plans on Wednesday to build a medical center for workers at its Florida theme park.The new $6 million, 15,000-square-foot clinic is scheduled to open on the Walt Disney World property in 2009, Disney said.More than 40,000 of the resort’s 60,000 employees, along with their dependents, participate in the company’s health care plan. The clinic will be open on nights and weekends, offering same-day appointments and longer-than-average visits with medical professionals, Disney said.”Our motivation is to provide quality health care, convenient access and choice,” Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton said after the announcement.Neither Crofton nor Al Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, would estimate potential savings to the company or employees, or the total number of people in Central Florida who will be served by the center.But Becky Cherney, president of the Florida Health Care Coalition, which represents 23 of Florida’s largest employers, said businesses, squeezed between escalating health care costs and the tightest job market in history come 2011, are looking for ways to keep existing employees healthy.”We all have the same escalating costs that aren’t sustainable,” Cherney said. “And what employers know now is that our indirect costs are more than our direct costs,” meaning that rehabilitating and filling in for a disabled employee is more costly than initial medical care.To assure privacy, Disney’s center will be operated by a yet-to-be-chosen health management company. (Editing by Leslie Gevirtz/Brian Moss)

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