State Grants Help Hospitals and Businesses Boost Health

COLUMBUS – A group of forward-thinking Ohio businesses are building healthier workforces and fighting rising health insurance costs, thanks to support from the State of Ohio’s Healthy Ohioans program.

Boosting efforts to find creative new ways to hold down employee health care costs, the 19 Healthy Ohioans Worksite Wellness Partnership Grants bring Ohio hospitals with expertise in promoting wellness together with local business partners interested in encouraging employees to improve their health.

The hospitals’ diverse partners include manufacturers, educational institutions, service providers and municipalities. Some have several dozen employees; others have several hundred. Common to all is a commitment to help their employees live healthier and a conviction that healthier employees are good for business and will lead to lower health care costs.

Hospitals are helping their partners with a variety of health promotion approaches. They include assessing and heading off employee health risks, offering smoking cessation services and providing on-site nutrition counseling and exercise programs.

The Healthy Ohioans program created by Gov. Bob Taft and the Ohio Department of Health is supporting the grants with $500,000 awarded to the Foundation for Healthy Communities, an arm of the Ohio Hospital Association.

“Ohio hospitals applaud the leadership of Healthy Ohioans for championing the notion many business leaders are now embracing – that small steps toward healthier lifestyles can make big strides toward improved productivity and a healthier bottom line,” said Lynne Ayres, director of the Foundation for Healthy Communities.

“Healthy Ohioans has an ally in the Foundation for Healthy Communities, which was empowered by Ohio hospitals in 1994 to promote good health,” Ayres added.

J. Nick Baird, MD, director of the Ohio Department of Health, noted a healthy lifestyle is one of the best defenses against the five leading causes of death in Ohio – heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes, all of which are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyles.

“Healthy Ohioans is about improving the quality of life in Ohio, and worksite wellness programs are an ideal way to help Ohioans reach their health and fitness goals. The employers and hospitals that have teamed up to demonstrate the benefits of workplace wellness programs should provide good examples for others to follow,” Baird said.

A complete list of grant recipients is attached, showing which hospitals are partnering with local businesses, schools and municipal divisions to create a healthier Ohio.

Healthy Ohioans is a multi-year, statewide health and wellness initiative of Governor Bob Taft and the Ohio Department of Health to increase awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyles and to change unhealthy habits for healthy ones--one small step at a time. For more information about the Healthy Ohioans initiative, go to www.healthyohioans.org.

The Foundation for Healthy Communities is sponsored by the Ohio Hospital Association, which represents 170 hospitals and 40 health systems with more than 230,000 employees. The Foundation was established in 1994 and its mission is to advance good health for all Ohioans. It initiates and champions health improvement and education by engaging partners, promoting proven strategies and advocating for wellness. Learn more about the Foundation for Healthy Communities at www.HealthyCommunitiesOhio.org.

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