Apple sets up a new subsidiary called "AC Wellness," aiming to open private medical clinics dedicated to Apple employees.
Simply put, Apple wants to offer its workers the best healthcare experience, so it's taking matters into its own hands and launching its own clinics. This should sweeten the deal for existing Apple employees, and entice others to seek a position with the company.
Apple Private Healthcare: AC Wellness
A website for AC Wellness quietly went live, offering a few more details about what it plans to do. The website also notes that AC Wellness is "Coming Spring 2018."
"AC Wellness is an independent medical practice dedicated to delivering compassionate, effective healthcare to the Apple employee population," reveals a brief description on the website.
A careers page for AC Wellness, meanwhile, lists a number of open positions including primary care doctors, nurses, on-site lab test staff, "care navigator," a clinical exercise coach, and more.
According to the website, AC Wellness is an independent medical practice based at Apple's health center in Cupertino, California. The exact location is between the Infinite Loop headquarters and the new Apple Park campus.
AC Wellness will cater exclusively to Apple employees in Santa Clara County at first, and it currently has two clinics, reports CNBC, who broke the news. More medical centers are expected to follow.
Improved Medical Care
Apple is not the only one striving to provide better medical care to its employees. Amazon recently teamed up with J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway to improve health care for its employees, and more companies could follow suit.
Providing better health care is not only beneficial to employees, but to employers as well. Roughly 69 million workers reportedly take sick days each year due to various health problems, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that economic output drops by $260 billion per year because of this. Preventing disease would be considerably cheaper than treating it, and private medical clinics could yield great results.
With this in mind, Apple is apparently seeking to hire "designers" who would help create a program to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent disease. Designers will reportedly work with technology and operations teams within the company.
CNBC says that Apple started telling third-party vendors about its private medical clinics this week. Job listings for AC Wellness also appear on Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor.
Apple has yet to make an official statement in this regard, but it's expected to offer more information soon.
