Background

Radish Health is a healthcare company that helps organizations stay healthy by providing convenient medical services directly to employees, including primary care, mental health, and nutritional coaching. The Radish Health team has been proudly serving municipal governments and their employees, to improve their health outcomes while navigating the pandemic.

Babylon is a town in New York with 646 civil servants providing essential public services to over 200,000 residents. The town government has been a Radish Health client since 2020.

Overview

When Congress passed the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA), it allocated $350 billion to state and local governments under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program. Federal guidance recommends investing it in healthcare benefits, fighting the pandemic, building community resilience, and maintaining vital services.

Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer seized this rare opportunity to invest in building a holistic health and wellness program. Now, the town offers its staff medical care, talk therapy, and nutrition consults through Radish Health, and a physical trainer to build exercise plans.

While it’s rare for civil servants to receive increases in their health benefits, Babylon’s leadership sees the increased offerings as essential to maintaining seamless operations and strengthening relationships with labor.

Strategy

Babylon issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking vendors who could provide care to the town’s staff over the next 5 years. The contract is paid for with the SLFRF funds from ARPA, enabling the town to plan beyond its annual budget cycle and extend the care services to 100% of its employees through 2026.

After analyzing the three communities, Radish Health discovered several key areas that lacked strategy, data and the right healthcare resources.

“Thanks to these federal funds, the town can invest in its employees’ future without putting any pain on the bottom line.”

— Rich Schaffer, Babylon Town Supervisor

Results

Of the town’s 646 employees, 505 have engaged with Radish Health’s services 3,109 times since the beginning of the partnership, notching a 78% utilization rate and an average of 6.1 interactions per employee over the course of about a year, proving to Schaffer the long-term value of Radish Health’s services.

He believes the health investments are far more than a pandemic fad; they represent a far-seeing vision for how the town approaches its relationship with employees and can reliably operate in the future. With these changes, Schaffer anticipates the town will be more prepared to stay open and tend to constituents’ needs, even in the wake of another pandemic in the future.

Schaffer also sees a larger opportunity for other towns and counties in New York: Section 103 of the General Municipal Law allows other towns to make a similar investment by referring to Babylon’s RFP in their contract documentation. And, using the same justifications provided to qualify for the ARPA funds, towns across New York would find an easy path to making the same kind of forward-thinking investments as Babylon.

“Other towns should really consider using our RFP. There are no downsides – labor wins, leadership wins, and the constituents win.”

— Rich Schaffer, Babylon Town Supervisor