Cove academy is a private primary school located in Queens, Ny. Its strategy is to be the school of first choice based upon a model of student-center learning, attention to the child’s individual needs, and strong faculty engagement. It has a waiting list of students seeking admission; in fact Some parents have been known to place their child's name on the waiting list shortly after birth. The school’s goal for 2014-2015 is to achieve designation as an “Excelsior School” by the Education Association. This status is based on student achievement, school environment and conditions and engagement of students, faculty, staff and parents in the school’s mission; only 2 percent of schools in NY State receive this recognition. Cove Academy employs 200 faculty and staff members.

Mercy University Hospital works with many local employers to establish wellness and disease prevention programs. In the proposal that it provided to Cove Academy, Mercy offered to conduct a one-day, on-site flue clinic at the school. The proposal states that flu has a significant impact on the workplace including absenteeism interruption of services, reduced productivity, and increased use of health care benefits. While employees who come down with the flu are typically out of work for several days, their productivity may be lower for up to two weeks while they regain their health and vitality. It notes that over 60 percent of employers provide on-site flu shots to their employees. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that getting the annual “flue shot” is the best preventive measure that can be taken and recommends that employers sponsor on-site clinics for their workforce.

For conducting the on-site flu clinic, Mercy would charge a fee of $1000, plus $37 per vaccine. It is estimated that 90 percent of Cove Academy’s 200 employees will be vaccinated during the day, even though the flu shot will be voluntary.

The clinic will be held during the first week of October. It will be the school’s responsibility to provide a location for the clinic and to coordinate the flow of employees to the clinic over the course of the day.

Prior to the clinic day, the benefits of having a flu shot will be publicized throughout the school. It will be conducted in the school Nurse’s Office, which is on-site. Teachers will be scheduled to attend during their preparation “free” period and all other employees will be scheduled throughout the day.

Employees will be offered a light snack (juice and cookies) after they are vaccinated. You determine that the school’s administrative costs in preparing for and hosting the clinic will be $2600. Of course, this will be in addition to Mercy’s charges.

Based upon information about the employee population of Cove Academy that was provided to Mercy representatives, they have estimated the likely effectiveness of vaccine program in reducing employee absences related to the flu. Although the impact of the flu varies depending upon the severity of the flu season, assuming a “moderate” flue season, it is estimated that approximately 6 percent of the employees will experience the flue during the season but if the clinic is held, only 4 percent of the employees will experience the flue. Additionally, they estimate that without the clinic the Cove employees who contract the flu will be absent an average of five days each, but that the average absence with the clinic will be limited to 4 days. Their studies show that most working-age adults don’t get vaccinated on their own. To protect the students (ages 4 to 12) Cove does not permit employees who show flue (or other disease) symptoms to come to work. All employees are eligible for up to twelve paid “sick” days per year.

The school has a total of 200 employees, most of who are teachers and the rest clerical or blue collar workers. The hourly wages for the faculty group is $49 per house, for clerical staff $29/hr and $22/hr for blue collar staff. All employees are paid 30% benefits. Teachers account for 75% of the absences while clerks and blue collar workers each account for 15% and 10% of absences respectively in a year. Since the state education department requires full staffing of teacher positions, substitute teachers must be hired when teachers are absent and they average $185 per day. Additionally, when some teachers do not report for work, one class teacher, by rotation, has to manage the absences, spending 0.2 hours per day.

Tasks:

1: Identify and calculate total costs of absenteeism both with and without the clinic, using the data and assumptions provided. What would be the benefit (savings in absenteeism cots) if the flue clinic is held? [Hint: While calculating mand-days lost, please bear in mind that sickness with flu only causes absence for a limited number of days.]

2: Calculate the cost of holding the clinic. Is it less or more than the benefit achieved by holding the clinic?

3: Calculate the ROI of holding the clinic. Remember,

4: Identify some non-financial advantages of holding the clinic

5: Based on overall considerations, is holding the clinic a good idea?