By JONA ISON
Gazette Staff Writer
As the nation has appeared to become fixated on health and fitness, so have businesses for numerous reasons.
Glatfelter recently hired a health and wellness coach who will be focused on helping employees with different issues, specifically hypertension, diabetes and possible smoking cessation, said plant nurse Jeanne Kirk.
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"(Wellness) reduces absences, it increases productivity, reduces insurance premiums, and overall wellness because if you are well and coworkers are well, it reduces stress," Kirk said, adding Glatfelter is the first of the plant's owners who have promoted wellness from the top down rather than being strated by the employee up the chain of command.
Glatfelter isn't the only business looking to help create a healthier work force which is why several area agencies have partnered to put on a work site wellness conference.
"Fiscal Fitness: Prevention Makes Cents," which is partially funded through a grant from the Adena Health Foundation, will have wellness vendors and speakers who will help employees and employers create a wellness plan or further plans already started.
As health care costs are projected to double by 2016, reaching $4.2 trillion and representing 20 percent of every dollar spent, according to WELCOA, employers are looking for ways to lower costs. While Glatfelter doesn't yet have incentives in place to encourage employees to work with the new wellness coach, it and many other businesses are moving in that direction.
For example, WELCOA, national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to promoting healthier life styles for all Americans, reported Dell Computers deducts $75 from annual health care premiums for employees who agree to participate in a health-risk assessment, and deposits $225 in a health expense account for employees who participate in a wellness program.
The conference will discuss how programs can be created and how they can help not only premiums, but save the company money through fewer absences and stress on other workers due to coworker absences. Conference speakers include Sharon Covert, Wellness Council of West Virginia; Craig Wethington, The American Cancer Society; Kim Valentour, Ohio University WellWorks; Greg Nartker, Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation; Jennifer Bryce, fitness director YMCA of Ross County; and Regina Tipton, Southern Ohio Medical Center.
(Ison can be reached at 772-9367 or via e-mail at jison@nncogannett.com)
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Originally published February 7, 2008
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