While hospitals typically respond to their patients’ immediate healthcare needs, they now are adding their employees’ health to their list of priorities.

According to a Feb. 11, 2011, New York Times article, “Hospital Shifts Smoking Ban to Smoker Ban,” hospital administrators are focusing more on their employees’ health as a way to cut costs and improve their organization’s image.

 “More hospitals and medical businesses in many states are adopting strict policies that make smoking a reason to turn away job applicants, saying they want to increase worker productivity, reduce healthcare costs and encourage healthier living,” the article stated. 

 In 2007, Memphis-area hospitals banned smoking on their properties as part of a city-wide initiative promoting tobacco-free health facilities. However, smoking isn’t the only culprit. Obesity also threatens medical employees’ health, since it is associated with higher incidences of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. The National Institutes of Health ranks obesity second behind cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable death.

Jan Van Deren is the wellness coordinator for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH).  She agrees that obesity negatively affects healthcare and that lowering the incidence of obesity among healthcare employees not only benefits the employees, but also healthcare institutions. 

“We’ve watched healthcare premiums rise 8 to 10 percent annually for the past decade,” she said.  “We knew it was primarily associated with higher incidences of diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses.”

According to Van Deren, the rising number of obese healthcare employees is not surprising.  “We all work long hours,” she said.   “We are caregivers at work and at home, but we don’t always take time out to take care of ourselves.” 

MLH administrators noticed the trend and, in 2008, set about to create an environment that supports and inspires its associates to lead healthier lives. The hospital began by reimbursing employees who joined Weight Watchers the program’s $120 fee if they met Weight Watcher’s goal of losing a pound a week for 12 weeks. 

Shortly thereafter, hospital administrators added Zumba, Jazzercise, kickboxing and yoga classes. “We realized that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to health and wellness,” Van Deren said.  “We added the exercise classes because we know that when we’re moving, we’re healthier.” 

The classes were a hit with employees since the hospital made sure that everyone had access by offering them on each shift.  “Our associates especially loved Zumba,” Van Deren said.  “When we considered scaling back Zumba to offer other classes, the associates said, ‘No. You can’t take away Zumba.’”  

MLH also provided nutritional counseling to complement the exercise program.  “We had ‘lunch-n-learn’ sessions where our registered dietitians and nutritional specialists conducted 15-minute classes that taught associates how to cut carbs and make other positive changes to their diet,” Van Deren said.

Inspired by their employees’ response, MLH launched its My Healthy Living wellness program in January 2010.  My Healthy Living gives employees an opportunity to lower their annual health insurance premiums by up to $500 if they take certain steps to improve their health.  The discounts are based on a point system.   Employees earn 500 points when they take the first step toward better health by having their health evaluated.

“Participants are required to have a physical examination, a biometric screening where their BMI (basal metabolic rate) is measured and complete the Cigna Health Assessment online,” Van Deren said. 

Employees earn another 1,800 out of a possible 5,700 points for having healthy blood pressure, Hemoglobin A1C, cholesterol and BMI levels, along with getting medical screenings like pap/prostate exams, mammograms and colonoscopies. 

MLH reduced the copay for the tests from $100 to zero to motivate employees to take advantage of the screenings.

“We had one associate who was 54 and had never had a colonoscopy,” Van Deren said.  “She took advantage of the zero copay and had the test.  They found polyps, a sign of early-stage cancer.”

MLH employees also earn points by exercising and participating in wellness seminars.  At the end of the calendar year, employees with 3,000 points save $480 on annual health insurance premiums the following year.  Those with 2,500 points save $288, and those with 2,000 save $168.

Eight percent of MLH’s 10,000 employees participated the first year.  According to Van Deren, the program, along with other factors, may be affecting the hospital’s health insurance costs after only two years.  “We won’t have a health insurance premium increase in 2012,” she said.  “Preventive care simply costs less.”  The hospital is shooting for 50 percent participation in four years.

St. Francis Hospital began investing in its employees’ health in 1995 when it teamed up with the YMCA.  “The impetus was to partner with a positive community organization to provide affordable exercise and fitness opportunities for our employees and the community,” St. Francis senior vice president Marilynn Robinson said.   

The hospital took its healthy living efforts to the next level when its parent company, Tenet Healthcare, launched Healthy at Tenet.  According to Teresa Nickel, St. Francis’ employee health manager, the program features monthly, two-week health challenges, online resources, health fairs and various events and activities.  “We have a different theme each month,” she said.  “In November, we had ‘Maintain. Don’t Gain,’ and in December we focused on stress management because the holidays can be stressful at times, and high stress levels are often associated with obesity.”

The Healthy at Tenet program has a full plate of monthly nutrition and exercise challenges scheduled this year that include: “Every Bite Counts” in June, “The Skinny on Weight Management” in September, and October’s “Sugar Busters,” just in time for Halloween.  About 500 employees participated in the program in 2011, earning credits toward lower health insurance premiums and enjoying the chance to win bicycles, basketballs and footballs, and other health-promoting prizes.

“Our goal is to have 40 percent participation,” Nickel said, “but, ideally, we would love to have 100 percent.”

Whatever the benefits of a healthy workforce may be, Methodist’s Van Deren says the most important impact of a wellness program is at the bedside.  “We have associates who now can encourage a patient who may have an obesity-related illness by saying, ‘I lost weight. You can do it, too.’”

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