[HealthyTribes] Wellness at Work

[Jonathan N MODIE]

Hello Grantees,
 
As we discussed during last month*s Wellness at Work optional training
webinar, we are launching the Wellness at Work media push this week. As
part of that effort, we have secured an editorial board meeting with
Mary Kitch at the Oregonian this Wednesday, July 13, to discuss
Wellness at Work. Here's the email pitch we used--feel free to copy and
send to your local paper. Good luck with your local media outreach, and
please let us know if you need support.
 
Jonathan Modie
971-673-1102
 
 
Hi Mary,
 
I'm hoping you'll consider a meeting this week or next to discuss
Wellness at Work, a new statewide initiative and online resource to help
Oregon's employers control costs and improve health.
 
Health care costs continue to soar in Oregon, driven largely by
ongoing, preventable health conditions. This takes a toll on Oregonians'
lives (19,000 deaths/year), our state ($16 billion in annual health care
costs) and employers' bottom lines (rising health insurance costs, lost
productivity, etc.).
 
Public and private sector employers of all sizes across the state are
reversing this trend by creating a culture of wellness at work. On
average, firms that adopt at least three wellness strategies for a year
reduce medical costs by 26 percent, sick leave by 27 percent, and
workers* compensation costs by 32 percent.
 
This wisdom is now assembled in a new website,
www.healthoregon.org/wellnessatwork, which provides an online
assessment to help employers identify opportunities and develop a
wellness program.
 
It would be interesting to look at the need for and potential of
workplace wellness programs, the documented evidence that they work, and
the examples across Oregon that illustrate what they look like. And of
course we'd hope the Oregonian would endorse this movement as a vital
one for the state, one all employers should--and can easily--join.
 
Could we set a meeting? I'm thinking Dawn Robbins, Wellness at Work
program manager at OHA; [ADD/INCLUDE REP FROM LOCAL EMPLOYER], which
drastically cut sick leave and improved productivity through its
wellness program; and Barbara Prowe of the Oregon Coalition of
Healthcare Purchasers, who can speak to the bottom line benefits of
workplace wellness.
 
We'll be launching the website to local businesses and through the news
media on July 11, so if you choose to write an editorial, early next
week would be timely.
 
 
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