Premera Blue Cross Mountlake Terrace campus reopens Tuesday

After more than a year of being away from the office due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employees of Premera Blue Cross began returning to the Mountlake Terrace campus Tuesday, July 6.

Tuesday marked the first day since March 9, 2020 that workers at Premera corporate headquarters in Mountlake Terrace have been open since March 2020. That’s when the company announced it would be requiring employees to work from home in an effort to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

With approximately 2,000 workers, Premera is Mountlake Terrace’s largest employer.

“Throughout the pandemic, the wellbeing of our employees has always come first for Premera,” Courtney Wallace, Premera’s director of strategic communications, said Tuesday. “This continues to be our guidepost as we worked toward reopening our campuses today. It is important to note that while our campuses reopened on July 6, the return of the Premera team will be a gradual process and will adhere to all applicable occupancy guidelines.”

Wallace said that strong safety protocols will be in place for employees, including a daily COVID-19 screening questionnaire, physical distancing, face covering requirements, occupancy limits and enhanced cleaning. “Guidelines will continue to evolve, and our campus reopening plan is designed to be flexible and will be modified to reflect any recent changes in CDC, state, and local guidelines,” Wallace said.

While workers are returning to Mountlake Terrace, Premera said it expects that more than 60% of its overall workforce will continue as full-time telecommuters. “We will also have employees who will be on-site full-time or have a hybrid arrangement,” Wallace added.

The majority of the work is complete at the company’s new Denali building, Wallace said. “There is still work that is ongoing around campus, but we are pleased with the progress. We anticipate other renovations occurring later in the year.”