CentraState Medical Center, for the third consecutive year, has been recognized as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association (AHA) for helping employees eat better and move more.
“Physical activity, employee wellness, and providing the best workplace environment are important priorities at CentraState,” says Tracey Saliski, coordinator, Wellness Program, CentraState Healthcare System. “We believe that having healthy employees is essential to providing quality health care to our patients. Our employee wellness program benefits our employees’ health and produces even more positive results for our worksite overall.”
Platinum-level employers:
- Offer employees physical activity options in the workplace.
- Increase healthy eating options at the worksite.
- Promote a wellness culture in the workplace.
- Implement at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture.
- Demonstrate measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness.
Created for employees, CentraState’s employee wellness program includes health risk assessments and biometric screenings, nutrition and fitness workgroups and education seminars, a wellness coordinator and personalized wellness plans. The goal is to help employees identify health risk factors while providing supportive wellness activities to help reduce those risk factors. Over the course of 12 years, CentraState has developed a comprehensive wellness program that not only has improved the physical and mental well-being of its employees, but also has helped the organization contain costs. The wellness program has become ingrained in the hospital’s culture and strategic efforts.
In addition to Fit-Friendly Worksite recognition, CentraState, for the second consecutive year, received the Worksite Innovation Award from the AHA for improving the well-being of its employees with its innovative Holistic Approach to Arthritis, Bone, & Joint Health Program. CentraState is among an elite group of awardees for this important initiative by the AHA given to only 36 organizations nationwide.
CentraState’s Holistic Approach to Arthritis, Bone, & Joint Health Program promoted eating a diet rich in whole, plant-based foods, coupled with healthy exercise and stress reduction to improve bone and joint health and reduce the symptoms of arthritis. The program focused on why the foods we eat play a powerful role in promoting or reducing inflammation, regulating body weight, and providing nutrients to promote strong bones. Offered last spring solely to CentraState employees and their spouses, the program provided the participants with the education and tools necessary to successfully make lifestyle changes to improve their overall health over the course of eight weeks. Participants attended classes once a week and discussed their triumphs and challenges, were educated on the week’s topic, had cooking classes, received emails with recipes and tips to help them outside of the classroom, and were given the encouragement and tools needed to make a healthy lifestyle change.
For more information about CentraState and all of the services it offers, call 866-CENTRA7 or visit centrastate.com.
About CentraState
CentraState Healthcare System is a nonprofit community health organization consisting of an acute-care hospital, a health and wellness campus, three senior living communities, a Family Medicine Residency Program, and a charitable foundation. CentraState’s teaching program is sponsored by Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Our mission drives everything we do. To improve the lives of all Americans, we provide public health education in a variety of ways. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or join us, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or any of our offices around the country, or visit heart.org.