Providence Medical Center Wellness Center Vision – Got Wellness!

In July 2005 staff from Providence Medical Center attended a “well worksite” seminar in Norfolk, sponsored by Well Workplace of Nebraska . Linda Carr, director of the Providence Medical Center Wellness Center, wanted to implement wellness programs for their employees; the seminar gave them the information they needed to get started.

After attending the seminar, CEO Marcile Thomas agreed to form a wellness team. Members of the team, representing a cross section of all hospital employees included Sandy Bartling, Providence Medical Center Foundation; Linda Carr, Wellness Coordinator & Director; Gunnar Spethman, Trainer; Dani Frahm, LPN; Gail McCorkindale, Supervisor of PT; Jean Harrold-Loberg, PT; Karlene Meyer, Supervisor of the OR and Central Supply; Eunice Johnson, Dietary Supervisor; Christina Mundil, Radiology; Joan West, Outpatient Clinic Supervisor; Mary Paustain, Therapy Technician, PT; Jodi Thompson, Ward Clerk; Cinda Brudigam, IT Sonja Hunke, HR Director. They have since added four more individuals to the team – Andrea Johnson, PT, Holly Hurlbert, Billing Office, and Wendy Donner, Therapy Technician. The role of the team is to establish the vision, timeline, and budget, communicate results and oversee the employee wellness program.

One of the first things they did was to create a vision for the wellness program. Their vision is to promote, support, encourage and motivate employees to develop or sustain a healthier lifestyle by improving choices, which address physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Next, they conducted a health risk assessment (HRA) and a survey of their employees to determine their facility health needs and what their employees’ habits were, and to understand how their lifestyles so that they could really target the best way to develop programs. The survey and HRA helped them identify their target areas, which included fitness, weight control, nutrition and cholesterol reduction.

They also looked at the modifiable and non-modifiable factors. The non-modifiable factors found from the survey for Providence Medical were that 61% of their employees are over 40; 19% have a history of stroke; 38% already have diabetes; and 36% have had cancer. They decided to focus on those areas where lifestyle modification can have an affect on the non-modifiable factors listed above. On their survey, they identified the following modifiable factors: 79% of the employees surveyed had inadequate exercise; 94% had high-fat food consumption; 92% had low servings of high-fiber foods; 90% had low servings of fruit and vegetables; 59 % had a high BMI; 45% had borderline high blood pressure; 30 % had borderline or high cholesterol; and 86% noted incidence of sunburns.

As they studied the results of their health risk appraisal, it became evident that many of the risks could be affected by diet and exercise. Linda and her team developed several interventions based on the survey results. They offered lunch & learn for selected topics like healthy eating habits and the importance of exercise. Picnics, games on the green, and clowns (a fun day) , were used for stress release. Mini seminars informing employees about the health benefits of eating certain foods, like apples were organized and presented during the day so employees could attend during their work hours. During their breaks, for short 15 minutes walks around the building or through the neighboring park were scheduled. Relaxation times were scheduled at the wellness center. They participated in N-Lighten Nebraska – one of their teams placed third in the state for weight loss! Changes were made to what was offered in the vending machines to offer healthier choices. Notes were placed on the tables in the dining room regarding healthier eating, calorie counts and heart healthy choices. Information on mental health and stress reduction was offered. Each employee continues to be offered six free sessions per year for mental health, massages, physician-referred therapy, and the services of a personal trainer.

In year two, they repeated their HRA and employee survey. When compared to the first year results, they saw improvements in many areas. While 79% of the employees documented inadequate exercise in the first year, during the second survey this number dropped dramatically to only 17%. The number of employees who improved their diets also improved significantly, with year two results showing that only 8% had a diet low in fruits and fiber, compared with 90% who had poor diets on the first survey.

What contributed to their success? The wellness team credits CEO Marcile Thomas for her strong support of the program and her ongoing efforts to provide benefits to the employees of Providence Medical Center. Another factor was the broad representation on the wellness team of employees from all areas of the hospital. The team demonstrated to their co-workers their commitment to making Providence Medical Center a healthy work site. Another success factor was flexibility. Each project was analyzed to see how many employees took advantage of it and whether there was a better time to offer it. During the first year, 90% of employees participated in at least one of the health options offered in their wellness program. In year two, they saw an increase in the number of options in which each employee participated. Ms. Carr stated that maintaining survey and HRA results in strict confidence was another contributing factor. Only aggregate information was reported and no individual employee was targeted for specific lifestyle changes.

In addition to the healthier results that are showing up on their surveys and the health gains their employees are achieving, Providence Medical Center received the Gold Award in the fall of 2007 from Wellness Council of America for their cost effective, comprehensive and nationally recognized workplace wellness program.

If you are interested in developing a well workplace program at your facility please contact Linda Carr at wellness@providencemedical.com,visit www.Welcoa.org or http://www.welcoa.org/freeresources/pdf/7cs_report.pdf for a model on how to build your own well workplace program.
 

If you have any questions or would like your hospital's quality initiatives to be featured on the NHA Web site, contact Monica Seeland, Vice President, Quality Initiatives, (402) 742-8152 or mseeland@nhanet.org.