When you are applying for a job or when you’re already in the workplace, almost all employers want to make sure you are healthy and drug-free. Thanks to the vision and initiative of Allen Young, MD, there is a convenient and respected place to go for those pre-employment and post-employment physicals and screenings. Dr. Young is the physician who oversees St. Mary’s Occupational Health Center in Barboursville. The center is located in the Merritt’s Creek Farm Plaza at 3102 Champion Drive, and serves employees and employers in a variety of ways.
Dr. Young spent several years working in an emergency room. While there, he saw the need for a separate facility focused on work-related injuries and health issues. “I was seeing several people daily coming to the ER for occupational reasons and realized relatively quickly there was a need for a site that focused solely on the occupational needs of businesses and their employees,” said Dr. Young.
“We started with pre-employment screenings, physicals and drug screens,” Young explained. “But I also saw how companies were losing big money each year as a result of lost time from work-related injuries and the need for someone to focus on treating those problems exclusively.”
Lisa Knipp is the office manager at the Occupational Health Center. She says patients appreciate the services offered at the center for many reasons. “What is different with us is that we do not see any other type of injury or illness that is not work related. Nobody here is sick with a cold or flu. There is less wait time, and less possibility of catching someone else’s germs,” she offered.
Most injured workers are also anxious to resolve their problems quickly. “One of our primary goals is to get the injured worker back to work in some capacity as soon as they are able, either under restricted duties or back to full duty,” Knipp said. “We see people from all areas of employment, including large manufacturing plants, retail centers and restaurants.”
Staff members at the St. Mary’s Occupational Health Center have received special training for pre-employment testing required by federal agencies of transportation, defense, railroad commission, and others. “We are certified with several of the railroads to do all of their pre-employment work as well as trucking companies, both large and small,” Dr. Young explained, “and we do work for several large national and international companies. So, we get people here from all over the Tri-State and beyond.”
Most businesses see pre-employment drug testing as an important key to providing a safe working environment and preventing injury and illness in the workplace. That is why the center screens hundreds of employees per year who have applied for jobs at local and national businesses. The preferred standard is still the urine drug screen, but the center also provides saliva and hair testing as well. “A lot of companies are starting to go to both the urine and hair sampling,” Knipp explained. “With a hair sample, we can detect illegal drug use at least as far back as three months whereas the urine sample gives us a more recent picture and a quicker test. Employers are moving towards requiring both urine and hair sampling to get a more in-depth view of potential drug problems with prospective employees,” Knipp added. Many businesses also use random testing, especially for workers in safety sensitive positions.
The St. Mary’s Occupational Health Center has built a reputation for helping businesses enhance employee output and productivity and treating work related injuries in a time when many are shying away from this type of work. “I think we are known for taking difficult cases and circumstances and unraveling them and working through the system, especially when things may fall through the cracks with others,” Dr. Young said.
The staff at the center includes health care professionals with more than 50 years of combined experience in occupational health care, including Dr. Young, occupational patient care specialists, a physical therapist, physical therapy assistants, x-ray technicians, employer liaisons, and billing and marketing representatives. The staff offers 24-hour post-accident drug screen coverage through their center as well, which is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or after hours at St. Mary’s emergency department. For more information, call (304) 736-8764.
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