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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.
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