In June 2008, the Foundation for Healthy Communities awarded five Ohio hospitals a total of $100,000 in Hospitals for Healthier Workforces grants to team up with local schools, fire departments, manufacturers and nursing homes to offer employee wellness programs to help reverse the obesity epidemic.  View the final grant report.

The five grantees and their community partners were:

Blanchard Valley Hospital & Whirlpool Corporation, $13,207, Weigh to Wellness
Whirlpool Corporation, Findlay’s second largest employer, identified obesity as one of the most significant opportunities to improve wellness for its 2,000 employees.  Blanchard Valley Hospital’s project aimed to provide a medically-directed weight loss program for up to 100 Whirlpool employees with a body mass index over 30.  Customized treatment plans with specific diet and exercise goals were developed for each participant.  Following individual health assessments, a four-week education program led to weekly support group meetings for three months and then monthly thereafter, with weekly weigh-ins and exercise tracking.

Community Mercy Health Partners & Benjamin Steel Company, $25,000, Wellness Works!
At the beginning of this project, the Benjamin Steel Company’s workforce had an obesity rate of 86 percent, far exceeding the national estimate of 70 percent of manufacturing workers who are overweight. Community Mercy Health Partners used the grant funding to expand the Wellness Works corporate wellness program at Benjamin Steel.  Employees were encouraged to participate in many different activities to earn points toward the Wellness Works program, which would enable them to receive insurance premium discounts based on the number of points accumulated throughout the year.  The program was open to employees at four different plant locations, with an estimated 220 eligible employees.

Memorial Hospital of Union County & Fire Departments, $24,973, Lighten the Load
Seven Union County fire departments with 230 firefighters were the focus of this project, which recognized that because of their work schedules and situations, firefighters are at increased risk for obesity.  Obesity is a major contributing factor to heart attacks and stokes, which are the most common causes of fatalities in the fire service.  The fire chiefs of all seven departments committed to provide staff time and resources to support the program, which aimed to take advantage of the family-like environment, camaraderie and inherent competitive culture of fire stations to promote behavioral changes to improve firefighters’ nutrition and exercise.

Salem Community Hospital & Columbiana County School Districts, $24,564, Get Schooled and Dump Your Plump
Nine Columbiana County school districts were targeted for better nutrition and exercise, using the Dump Your Plump worksite wellness program already offered by 1,000 organizations nationwide with a 96 percent completion rate and an average weight loss of seven pounds.  The program was offered to over 200 school employees who set group exercise and weight loss goals, and worked toward those goals for a 10-week period.  The project was aimed to build on the hospital’s community partnership work to promote healthy behaviors with youth, engaging school staff as influential catalysts for healthy lifestyles to students at all levels.

Twin City Hospital Corporation, Zimmer Orthopaedic Surgical Products & Hennis Care Center, $12,256, Fit for Life
Twin City Hospital was awarded a $12,256 grant to offer its successful Fit for Life program to employees of Hennis Care Center nursing homes and manufacturer Zimmer Orthopaedic Surgical Products.  The Fit for Life program was developed by Dr. Tim McKnight, utilizing his own extensive training in nutrition and his experience as a board certified family practitioner who specializes in sports medicine.  Fit for Life is an existing program that has been available to the community at large for three years and the participants have seen great success in weight loss, reduction in BMI and other clinical improvements.  The purpose of this grant was to take the program into the workplace setting as one more way to address the 31 percent obesity rate in Tuscarawas County.