T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY The entrance to Wolfe Eye Clinic’s headquarters at 309 E. Church St. is shown. The company, founded in Marshalltown in 1919, recently outsourced its billing and insurance department to Virtual Business Office Associates (VBOA) through a contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), affecting 22 local jobs.

A company that has been headquartered in Marshalltown for over a century has outsourced its entire billing and collections department to Virtual Business Office Associates (VBOA) through a contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), affecting 22 local jobs.

Two former Wolfe Eye Clinic employees who spoke to the T-R on the condition of anonymity shared documents confirming the change, which took effect at the end of October. They were offered the opportunity to apply for jobs with VBOA, one of the former employees said, but their benefit costs were set to increase by 400 percent and they would’ve been subject to extensive background checks akin to “working for the Federal Trade Commission.”

The move was attributed to financial constraints after most Marshalltown employees received no yearly raises back in July.

“I think the patients need to know this information because ultimately, what’s gonna happen (is) when patients call, they’re gonna be speaking to people that are offshore. They’re not gonna be speaking to anybody that’s here no matter what. There’s gonna be less help for the patients to navigate their insurance and to navigate their billing. There’s gonna be less of everything all the way around,” one of the former employees said. “This is not going to impact just Marshalltown. This is going to impact all of Wolfe Clinic. There are 64 locations. Every one of them would call us.”

The other former employee felt the decision flew in the face of Wolfe’s reputation as a family-owned, long-established local business, contending that those who left were treated badly as the change took effect, and information about the board members who authorized the new contract was not readily shared with affected employees. Some had been with Wolfe for decades, while others who were reassigned had been there for less than a year.

“There is nothing we can do at this point or ever. It is water under the bridge. Everybody has gone to their different places (of employment),” the other former employee said.

Some of them, one said, ended up having to take the jobs with VBOA or other jobs within Wolfe — sometimes taking a pay cut to do so — but about 10 have departed completely.

One of the former employees added that even those who stayed are looking for other jobs as they now feel a lack of security in their positions with VBOA. Wolfe Clinic CEO David Moentch declined comment in an email to the T-R.

Otis R. Wolfe, M.D., and Frederick L. Wahrer, M.D. founded Wolfe Clinic in Marshalltown in 1919. According to its website, Wolfe operates clinics in Ames, Ankeny, Carroll, Cedar Falls, Hiawatha, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, Pleasant Hill, Spencer and Waterloo along with eight family vision centers, a surgical center and more than 25 outreach locations.