SDC Opens Clinic for Employees

 Music, roller-coasters and crafts are what most people think of when they hear Silver Dollar City.  But now you can add medical care to that list.

Like the rides, there are some restrictions to this new program.  You don't have to be a certain height, but you do have to be one of the 2,300 Silver Dollar City employees in the Branson area or part of their dependent families to enter this on-site clinic.

Many theme park workers can't afford insurance and asked for the theme park to offer more medical benefits.  That's how Mary's Well House came to be.

Named after Silver Dollar City founder Mary Hershend, it will be open weekdays year round in a partnership with Skaggs Community Health Center, staffing two doctors, two LPNs and an administrator.

Most of its services will be offered for free or a small fee.  Located close to the Silver Dollar  City theme park, it will focus on preventative medicine.

Jack Herschend, whose family owns Herschend Family Entertainment, says the clinic is one more way to care for their employees.  "We were really focusing on our folks and what would make our place a better place to work."

"It is innovative and it works nicely, said Steve Erixon of Skaggs Community Health Center in Branson.  "It's unique and I wish I thought of it earlier and done it in other places."

The hope is not only will this added benefit save some money, but it will also save lives.  Because Mary's Well House is located close to where so many people work, the hope is people will be able to conveniently go to the doctor for issues that could be stopped before they become worse.

This innovative idea is not really new to Herschend Family Entertainment.  It opened a similar health facility for its employees at Dollywood Park in Tennessee five years ago, and its already been credited with saving the lives of several people.