American Heart Association Recognizes Saint Francis for Employee Wellness Programs

Saint Francis Medical Center is the first Southeast Missouri company to be recognized by the American Heart Association's Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program for promoting physical activity and health in the workplace.

Designed to be a catalyst for positive change in American business, the Start! Fit-Friendly Companies program recognizes employers who champion the health of their employees by creating physical activity programs within the workplace.

"Saint Francis Medical Center has always shown leadership in advocating wellness in the community and in the workplace," says Steven C. Bjelich, FACHE-D, Saint Francis President and Chief Executive Officer. "Being named the first Start! Fit-Friendly Company in the region is a reflection of the Medical Center's commitment to employee wellness through the Healthy Rewards program. This commitment is just one of many reasons Saint Francis was named #4 on Modern Healthcare magazine's Best Places to Work in Healthcare list."

Healthy Rewards is the comprehensive wellness incentive program for employees at Saint Francis. The organization continually promotes employee participation through activities and challenges, such as Healthy Bites lunches, weekly weigh-ins and exercise challenges, where employees earn points toward annual wellness goals. The positive reinforcements include medical insurance premium reductions and up to $250 in vouchers for meeting annual goals.

Adult Americans spend the majority of their waking hours at work, many in sedentary careers -- amplifying the risk for medical problems such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Obesity alone costs American businesses $12.7 billion in medical expenses and $225.8 billion in health-related productivity losses per year.

"Time constraints and job responsibilities are employees' biggest obstacles to exercising. That's why the Start! Fit-Friendly Companies program encourages employers to allow employees to walk while at work," said Beth Walker, Corporate Events Director with the American Heart Association. "Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity."

Furthermore, studies suggest that implementing a worksite physical activity program and promoting a culture of physical activity will help companies increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, lower turnover and reduce hard costs. Research shows that employers can save $16 for every $1 they spend on health and wellness.

Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program participants implement various options to encourage physical activity, nutrition and culture enhancements such as on-site walking routes, healthy food options in cafeterias and vending machines, annual employee health risk assessments and online tracking tools.