Healthy Workplace???

bla115

If you are like me the workplace can be a huge diet trap filled with all the wrong foods (and I work in a hospital, go figure). I have a pretty good relationship with our VP and wanted to approach him about some sort of fitness challenge for folks here. We have a very high number of employees that are overweight, etc. Does anyone work someplace that has a health program or does anyone have any suggestions??? Thanks!

bla115

If you are like me the workplace can be a huge diet trap filled with all the wrong foods (and I work in a hospital, go figure). I have a pretty good relationship with our VP and wanted to approach him about some sort of fitness challenge for folks here. We have a very high number of employees that are overweight, etc. Does anyone work someplace that has a health program or does anyone have any suggestions??? Thanks!

icandoit

My husband works at a hospital too. Here is a copy of a letter they posted on their web site. Maybe you can share it with your boss.

Here is the web page too:
www.communitymedical.org/888.htm


Employee wellness program launched

With the launch of its brand new wellness program, Community Medical Centers is taking steps to ensure the health of what organization officials say is their most valuable resource - employees.

C-Fit’s aim is to improve the lives of employees as well as the morale, health and even the financial situation of central California’s largest hospital network.

Community’s offering of an employee wellness program comes as more U.S. companies jump on this growing trend. Time Magazine reports that 53% of large employers offered such services to their employees last year alone, up nearly 20% from 2004.

Jack Lazzarini, director for C-Fit, said employees working in the health care profession need the help C-Fit offers.

“One of the big reasons Community has chosen to launch an extensive program is health care employees give and they give and they give,” Lazzarini said. “Community’s employees are very good at nurturing others, but not themselves.”

Lazzarini said that the long work days and stress that comes with the medical profession naturally leads to unhealthy behavior, whether it is a bad diet or lack of exercise.

Lazzarini said Community has a stake in its employees’ health.

“Bad health is damaging not only for the individual, but also for the corporation,” Lazzarini said.

According to research, Community can expect to reap big rewards from the implementation of C-Fit. A study by Prudential Insurance shows that disability days were 20% lower when companies implemented a wellness program, not to mention a sharp drop in overall annual medical costs.

Employees are asked to take a free health risk assessment, a questionnaire that assesses current and future health risks. After the assessment, employees then meet with one of four wellness advocates who go over the results of the appraisal and then set up a tailored course of action.

“Everybody’s different, everybody has different issues,” Lazzarini said. “But we meet the individual where they’re at.”

C-Fit provides incentives to promote employee wellness by offering everything from corporate discounts at gyms and massages, to free items such as gift cards.

Joel Godina, a lab assistant at the children’s clinic at the former University Medical Center campus, said the incentives C-Fit offers initially drew him to the program.

“I heard other co-workers talk about it, so that caught my attention,” Godina said. “It’s nice because it gave me the boost I needed to exercise and diet. Those are my main two goals, and this program helps.”

Community spends about $25 million on health care benefits annually. Lazzarini said C-Fit will save Community money in the long run that could go directly back to employees.

“We can take that saved money and channel it back to other employee benefits, such as higher salaries and more incentives,” Lazzarini said. “It’s a total win-win situation.”

So far, nearly 35% of Community employees have signed up for the program during launches at Clovis Community Medical Center, Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital and Community Medical Center-Oakhurst. Lazzarini expects that number to grow with the launch of C-Fit at Community Regional Medical Center later this month.

Lazzarini hopes participating employees will take a direct role in the management of C-Fit.

“Teams of employees at each facility will help drive programming,” Lazzarini said. “The fact is that one size doesn’t fit all and that every facility within Community has its own culture.”

Community employees participating in C-Fit have already organized team sports from bowling to softball, even a day-long family hike to Lost Lake.

“I talked a couple of co-workers in to going hiking, so we went,” Godina said. “Then we’re going to start softball next month, then there is also more outdoor stuff planned.”

Lazzarini is ambitious about his plans for C-Fit. He hopes to expand to include not only more employees, but perhaps even expand it to other corporations who want wellness programs within their organization.

“It’s all about giving back to the community,” Lazzarin

jessneill

Our company also offers a Wellness program. For participating in wellness activties, such as working out, bicycling to work, eating 5 fruits/vegetables a day, you earn Wellness points which can be used towards time of or being reimbursed for buying healthy items such as gym memberships.

bla115

Thanks for the suggestions!!!