Companies promote fit-friendly workplaces
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Amy Batson is among St. Dominic employees who participate in the exercise programs. .jpg
The American Heart Association recently released its list of fit-friendly companies in the Oct. 27 issue of Forbes magazine. Two Jackson companies were among those recognized.
The AHA's Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program, which promotes physical activity and health in the workplace, listed Mississippi Baptist Health Systems and St. Dominic Health Services in its listing of business who allow employees to engage in healthy activity during work.
"Start! is a national movement that calls on Americans - employers and employees - to create a culture of physical activity and health in workplaces," said Elaina Jackson with the Greater Southeast affiliate of the AHA. "We spend more time at work than we do anywhere else, and our jobs have become more sedentary; we're sitting in front of a computer. What Start! does is encourage companies to get their employees moving by providing walking routes, providing tracking tools that help employees to get walking and provide incentives for being physically active. Also, (it encourages) offering healthier vending options for their employees.
"It's all in an effort to get people moving and reduce the risk for heart disease, which is the No. 1 killer in not just America but in Mississippi. Obesity (is also an issue). When you're not healthy, you lose time at work, and this is costing businesses money. Start! is not just a benefit for the employees, but also for their businesses."
The fit-friendly recognition program is only two years old and this is the first time a Mississippi company has been mentioned, according to Jackson.
"St. Dominic really started focusing on employee wellness in the last three years. Since I've been here, I've been involved with our wellness committee," said Deidra Bell, the CFO for St. Dominic. "St. Dominic is not just the hospital but also St. Catherine's Village, our continuing care retirement center, as well as the other entities on our campus. We've really tried to be corporate-wide with this program.
"In 2007, the organization did its first wellness assessment with its employees to really get a baseline on the wellness level, the fitness level of our employees, so we could provide ways for them to improve their health."
The efforts have included various challenges, nutritional seminars and themed activities, like a heart focus during February, for AHA's American Heart Month.
"The program (at Baptist) started in July of 2007, that's when we started looking at putting a health management system into Baptist Health Systems," said Dr. Chad Rhoden, the clinical and research director for preventative medicine and health promotion at Baptist.
"A workplace wellness program is something that needs to be customized to an organization; there's not a standard protocol or template, because every organization is unique in their structure. It's not a 'one size fits all,' and I think that the mentality may be that there is. It takes some detailed analysis of the environment, the personnel, the resources that are available to implement a successful workplace health promotion. Having a reputable fitness center is certainly a positive and allows employees to have easy access to exercise; that certainly augments an initiative for workplace health (plans)."
One of the more difficult parts to developing such a program is working with those at a higher level in the organization to make time for this in the daily schedule.
"That is something that takes time in a large organization," Rhoden said. "Every area of management has its goals, its priorities and has a system that's been effective. When you start health promotion in an organization, it's very important to develop a team atmosphere, where everyone is working together toward the same goal and not detracting from the responsibilities in the individual areas. There is a level of commitment that all levels of management need to have in order to make it a success. That does take time and it depends on the organization. That top-level support and organizational teamwork have been instrumental to Baptist's success."
Because of the nature of their existence, these activities can serve as a public relations tool for the hospitals.
"Part of our mission is promoting wellness to the community. We needed to set the example," Bell said.
