The Glimmerglass Festival has announced a partnership to provide medical care for people associated with its opera season.
According to a media release, the festival has made an agreement with Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness LLC., a local provider of institutional health and wellness programming and concierge primary care services. The collaboration will provide a health and wellness program tailored for opera and theater professionals. “The program is a model for the opera and theater industry, addressing the healthcare disparities and lack of access to health insurance that industry professionals with atypical schedules and inconsistent employment often face,” the release said.
The program will feature an onsite infirmary. With regular weekly hours at the Glimmerglass Festival campus, the infirmary will provide access to health care services for Glimmerglass staff, apprentices and performers. The infirmary will offer first aid, triage of illness, acute care escalation and identification of episodic needs that a primary care provider should address, all at no cost to Glimmerglass employees, the release said.
The program will also include a weekly primary care “Opera Doc” clinic led by Dr. Jeffrey Bailey, founder of Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness LLC. Services at the “Opera Doc” clinic are offered for a copay in partnership with the Bassett Healthcare Network at the Richfield Springs Clinic.
The program will include a seminar series and weekly newsletter covering topics such as sleep hygiene, healthy eating, summer colds and other wellness topics.
“For nearly five decades, Glimmerglass has been the driving force behind the American opera and theater scene, nurturing performers, musicians, and artisans who have risen to prominence in the industry. With this new partnership with Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness, we are taking the next step in this long history, offering holistic support to the professionals who make each season’s magic possible,” said Glimmerglass Executive Director Andrea Lyons. The program was informally piloted during the 2023 Glimmerglass season.
“This new program is groundbreaking. We are introducing health and wellness benefits to Glimmerglass employees that surpass many institutional wellness programs available at Fortune 500 companies,” Bailey said. “Partnering with Glimmerglass to provide this program has been about giving back to my local community by supporting an organization that brings so much beauty and joy to our region. It is also about giving back to the performing arts community where I began my professional life. I hope we can make the world a little better for the people in both communities.”
The program will launch this month with the first seminar in its educational series, a class about navigating state health insurance marketplaces while working within the gig economy, the release said. For more information about Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness LLC., visit www.gmwcare.com/.