BLOUNT
MEMORIAL
Developing a Business Plan for Health
with Janet Gilson
mployees are the most-valuable asset of any business. They help produce important business outcomes, yet they also cost money in terms of benefits. By investing in programs which identify employee health problems while also helping develop a culture of wellness within a company, employers can reduce health care costs and increase productivity. Blount Memorial Business Health programs and education manager Janet Gilson explains. “Business Health partners with companies to develop and implement on-site wellness programs as an important strategy for addressing the health care crisis,” Gilson says. “Developing company wellness programs as a business plan focuses on a design that helps the company best realize its return on investment.” Current research shows that as health risks increase, costs increase, and as health risks decrease, costs decrease as well. According to Gilson, creating a culture of wellness in the workplace helps reduce health care expenditures for employers, lower the health risks of the employees, and show profitability and sustainability of the bottom line. “Other intrinsic benefits to the employer are better productivity and peak performance, improved teamwork and morale, as well as an improved corporate image,”
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Gilson adds. “Business Health offers worksite wellness programs to lower risks and achieve these benefits. In addition, we help employers achieve the best longterm health-promoting and cost-saving outcomes by keeping low-risk individuals from becoming higher risk.” The Business Health worksite wellness programs available to local employers include: n health risk assessments n health screenings and physicals n an eight-week smoking cessation program n the 12-week Healthy Choices for Life weight management program n wellness program development consultation n worksite wellness coaching n healthy lifestyle and education programs. “The Business Health worksite wellness approach combines individual initiative with ongoing support to make good business sense,” Gilson says. “It is also consistent with practices widely appreciated among business leaders. Our focus is on partnering with employers to build physically and fiscally healthy companies in our community.” For more information about how Business Health worksite wellness programs can work for your company, call 865-977-5795.
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