WARREN, Ohio — Mercy Health Occupational Health Services has a new home in Warren.

Relocating from a smaller site inside Mercy St. Joseph Hospital, the facility is now located at 5000 E. Market St., Suite 18.

The larger space allows the clinic to see up to five patients at a time and get workers back on the job sooner, according to Stephani Razzo, who manages the new facility.

“Typically, it’s been follow up only, even for something minor,” Razzo said of the old facility. “We didn’t have the space and that first report of injury, we’d have to send them to the emergency room or one of our primary care walk in centers… So now we’ve got the ability with onsite Xray and a bigger, physical space, we can see some of those first reports of injuries, minor strains and sprains.”

The new clinic also includes a procedure room for sutures, minor wound care, splints and treatment of minor emergencies. Mercy Health Occupational Health Services does not accept insurance, instead handling workers’ compensation claims or self-pay.

The clinic specializes in pre-employment physicals, workers’ compensation injuries, drug screenings, fingerprinting, lung capacity testing, audiology and hearing conservation.

By design, occupational health services do not treat non-work-related injuries or illnesses, Razzo noted. Keeping the waiting room free of sick patients helps protect employees’ health.

“We want to keep your healthy workforce separate from the sick,” Razzo said, adding that when the pandemic hit, their services were moved into a vacant office space to avoid those coming in with potential COVID.

“We’ve been looking for a new place for a few years,” Razzo said. “But we had to find the right space. We didn’t want to just keep moving to move.”

For employers who may need services, Razzo said the clinic can establish screening protocols tailored to their requirements. The facility also partners with larger employers, particularly those with onsite nurses, so they can discuss cases before an employee arrives.

Some services require appointments, but others do not.

“We encourage them to call ahead and we can let them know maybe approximately how long the wait may be, if there’s a better time to come or we can do a little triage and see if it’s appropriate to come here or go to the hospital,” Razzo said.

The Warren clinic is one of two Mercy Health Occupational Health Services locations. The other is in Boardman at the Davis Family YMCA next to Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Hospital.

Pictured at top: Cutting the ribbon for Mercy Health Occupational Health Services new Warren location were Rachel Lesher, Sue Sackett, Stephanie Razzo, Deb McKee, Robin Pelton, Dawn Markley, Kelly Reinhart, Lindsay Adams, Mark Gorospe, Mike Blank and Stephen Suszczynski.