A few years ago, Frisco residents were divided on the idea of an Employee Wellness Center that supposedly would save taxpayer dollars and improve employee health outcomes.  At the time, Frisco Chronicles and many residents, raised concerns because the clinic was projected to operate in the red for years before ever breaking even. Funny how “trust the process” always seems to come with a blank check.

So naturally, we decided to follow up.

We filed a Public Information Request asking for basic operational information for the following:

1. Annual Usage Statistics; Number of clinic visits by employees each year.

2. Employee Participation: Total Number of employees using the clinic each year.

3. Financial Performance: Annual revenue and expenses related to operating the clinic, including whether the clinic operates at a surplus or deficit each year.

4. Any additional reports or summaries detailing the clinics’ utilization, cost savings, or operational performance.

Asking for usage numbers, costs, financial performance, and general metrics.  Not patient records. Not private medical files.  Just the kind of accountability data taxpayers should expect when public money and public partnerships are involved.

Instead, the City of Frisco is now claiming much of the information is confidential. Premise Health, the private company operating the clinic, also argued the records should be withheld by the public.

That response raises even more questions.  The public has the right to know where taxpayer dollars are going.

Since when did taxpayer-funded operations become private just because a corporation is involved?  If a city contracts with a private company that operates on taxpayer dollars, then transparency is part of the deal. You don’t get to step into the public arena, collect public money, make promises to taxpayers, and then slam the door shut when someone asks for performance numbers.

Nobody is requesting employee medical files or protected health information. We fully support protecting patient privacy. But there is a massive difference between protecting personal health records and hiding operational data from the taxpayers footing the bill.

The city and Premise Health appear to be blurring that line intentionally.

How many employees use the clinic monthly?
How much taxpayer money has been spent?
What are the annual operating losses or gains?
Has the clinic reduced insurance costs as promised?
What metrics are being used to measure success?

Those are not invasive questions.
Those are standard accountability questions.

And frankly, if the clinic is performing well, why fight so hard to keep the numbers hidden?

The public has every right to question why officials are circling the wagons over usage statistics and financial data. Transparency should not suddenly disappear because the answers may be politically inconvenient.

Government transparency in Frisco increasingly feels like a game of “public when convenient, private when questioned.” The city loves press conferences, ribbon cuttings, and glossy announcements when launching programs, but when residents ask for follow-up data years later, suddenly everyone discovers the word “confidential.”

Maybe the Employee Wellness Center is a success story. Maybe it’s exactly the financial sinkhole critics warned about years ago. Either way, taxpayers deserve facts, not carefully crafted legal objections designed to keep the public in the dark.

Read our original article and decide for yourself whether this is about protecting privacy — or protecting politics.

City Website on Employee Health Clinic

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