Supervisor Pushes Health Clinic for Transit Workers
Sup. Peter Burgelis wants to use federal funding for employee health clinic.
The Milwaukee County Board will consider a proposal over the next month that would create a health clinic for Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) workers at one of the transit agency’s properties.
The resolution, authored by Sup. Peter Burgelis, would have the county use $614,000 from its federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation to build out an onsite healthcare clinic at an MCTS facility. The resolution does not specify where, leaving it up to the transit system.
“[A]t its public hearing on the 2023 Budget, the County Board heard testimony from transit employees that affordable access to health care services is a critical component of the employee benefit package… Establishing a fourth onsite health care clinic at a MCTS location would enhance access to health care services and provide a valuable benefit to help retain employees who keep the transit system operating on a daily basis,” the resolution states.
A report by the county Office of Strategy, Performance and Budget noted that the on-site clinics could improve employee retention, increase access to preventive medical care and decrease health care claims in the long term.
Burgelis’ resolution states that clinic for MCTS workers would also be available to every other county employee, and vice-versa; and that it would contribute to the county’s mission to become the healthiest in the state by achieving racial equity.
A freshman supervisor, Burgelis has shown a particular focus on transit and transportation policy. He led a push to get free bus rides for Milwaukee County residents on election day in early November. The proposal failed to pass the board after the county’s Office of Corporation Counsel warned that the county could be sued for a breach of state election law. But he did manage to get language in 2023 budget asking county officials to study ways to legally provide free election-day transportation.
His latest proposal will first go before the county’s ARPA Task Force, created to review spending proposals for the county’s $183 million allocation. Currently, only 79% of these funds have been allocated. After the task force reviews the proposal, it will need final approval from the county board.
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A commendable idea from Sup Burgelis, but there are two questions to be asked:
1) Is it appropriate for elected officials to be directly involved with the collective bargaining process at a semi-autonomous entity?
2) Where would funds come from for ongoing expenses in coming years (salaries, equipment acquisition and maintenance, building maintenance)? MCTS budget? General county budget?
MCTS has several garages and each worker is assigned to just one garage, so the workers assigned to the other garages can’t take full advantage of this (and, in fact, might prefer a non-MCTS location for privacy reasons).