$2B EV plant partners with Midlands hospital to provide free services to 4K workers
As Scout Motors, an electric vehicle manufacturer, prepares to invest $2 billion into a massive production facility in Blythewood and hire some 4,000 workers, the company has agreed to an exclusive deal with Lexington Medical Center to provide onsite healthcare services.
The partnership, which will provide things like physical therapy, injury-related care and mental health services to all of the plant’s employees free of charge, reflects a growing trend in the manufacturing industry.
“People are starting to pick up on the fact that you can actually, one, take really good care of your people and then save money doing it,” Lara Moore, vice president of community health for Lexington Medical Center, told The State.
The goal, for Scout, is two-fold: treat employees well to retain and draw more folks to the company and minimize the amount of time workers have to spend driving to and from doctors appointments.
Lexington Medical, which employs more than 8,500 workers across the Columbia area, will operate a medical trailer on the 1,100-acre site in Blythewood, a bedroom community of the state’s capital city. Once fully operational, the plan is to have 8-10 medical staff working to provide care for workers.
“We have these state of the art processes that despite how well we control them, we know we’re going to have things happen where we need to take care of somebody,” said Jessica Siron, senior director of environment, health and safety for Scout Motors. “Having that resource here on site that can get familiar with the work areas, get familiar and build a relationship with the employees, that’s where our heads are at on this.”
Scout, which announced its planned investment in Richland County in March 2023, received proposals from nine healthcare providers, some of whom specialize in onsite medical care for manufacturing companies. But Siron said Lexington Medical, being local to South Carolina, was the right fit for the company. The hospital group works with other large companies in the state like Michelin and Nucor, Moore said.
The onsite medical trailer will give the company the ability to cycle workers through run-of-the-mill requirements – pre-employment drug screens and annual physicals to comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules – while also providing preventative care like physical therapy and mental health resources.
And while the onsite clinic won’t have all services, the Lexington Medical staff will be able to help get employees connected to providers in the area for things like disease management. Scout’s insurance provider will include Lexington Medical as an in-network provider. The hospital group’s newest medical facility, a 225,000-square-foot building, is eight miles from the upcoming plant and offers urgent care, outpatient surgery and imaging, among other things.
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
