Wings of Mercy is a charitable organization based in West Michigan that flies patients to their medical destinations who would not otherwise be able to travel there. Pilots and plane owners donate their time for each mission.

In 1991, Mark, Wayne Jarvis and I chose to offer our company plane to fly patients that Wings of Mercy would refer to us. Since then we have flown over 246,000 miles (about 10 times around the world) and over 1400 hours in the air. We have flown 361 flights since 1991 for Wings. Most flights are to Rochester, MN where the Mayo Clinic is located. We have also flown patients to Denver (a pediatric asthma specialist), Raleigh, NC (lung transfer specialists), Baltimore, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, as well as many other locations. Wings of Mercy, and their 30 other planes and pilots, fly about 225 charitable flights per year.

Manufacturing doesn't work without people. Equipment operators, engineers, sales teams and managerial staff are responsible for the success of every manufacturing business. Just like there's no company without people, there's no healthy business without healthy employees.

With healthcare costs constantly on the rise, employee healthcare is a major expense for businesses of all sizes. Traditionally, companies have a limited scope of choices to make when it comes to healthcare. Most choose to either subsidize health insurance for their employees, or form a self-funded insurance group.

A third option, which is increasingly gaining popularity, is to host onsite health clinics. These clinics can offer easier access to healthcare and more control over healthcare costs–but onsite clinics aren't right for every business. Here, we explore some of the advantages and disadvantages of hosting onsite clinics.