December 27, 2018
ThedaCare Presented Well Workplace Award by Wellness Councils of America
Striving to Create a Culture of Wellness
APPLETON, Wis. – The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), with local affiliate Wellness Council of Wisconsin (WCWI), recently presented its coveted Platinum Well Workplace Award to ThedaCare. The award recognizes an organization for its commitment to the health and well-being of their employees.
“Our employees are our greatest asset in helping improve community health and it is imperative that we role model the right behaviors while caring for our patients,” said Maggie Lund, ThedaCare’s Chief Human Resources Officer. “When we’re healthy, we are better-positioned to help the people around us be healthy.
By achieving the Well Workplace Award, ThedaCare has made a long-lasting commitment to the overall health of team members.
“Good companies know that their employees are their most valuable asset. Great companies adopt policies that support employees’ efforts to reduce health risks and are bold about motivating them through strategies, programs and tactics,” said Ryan Picarella, WELCOA President. “Great companies know that by improving their employees’ health, they can reduce health care costs.”
Lund said receiving the Platinum Well Workplace Award shows the organization’s dedication to its employees. A dedication she said must begin at the highest level.
“When I first began working at ThedaCare several months ago, I wanted to learn more about our wellness initiatives,” Lund said. “ThedaCare physicians, employees and community members helped us build a foundation for our wellness mission, and I’m so impressed by the program we’ve put into action.”
HealthWorks is ThedaCare’s system-wide wellness initiative, focused on encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyle choices. The formal wellness initiative began in 2004 when leadership realized in order to fulfill the mission to improve the health of the communities they serve; they first had to help employees take better care of themselves.
“ThedaCare has strived to create a culture of wellness at all of our locations,” said Brenda Leigh, MS RD, supervisor for ThedaCare’s HealthWorks program. “Our Healthy Environment Checklist helps managers assess their department’s work environment while providing them with insight and assistance in creating healthy working conditions for team members.”
HealthWorks provides monthly wellness programs and incentives, lifestyle improvement, disease management programs and onsite exercise classes and facilities. The Health Assessment Tool is an assessment of overall health status. Since beginning assessments in 2009, ThedaCare has seen a continual increase in the average score.
“We have created an expansive wellness program that includes a team of professional health coaches who conduct health risk assessments and offer one on one lifestyle coaching,” said Leigh. “We have established more than 125 Wellness Champions who are positioned throughout the organization. These champions have been nominated by their managers and help carry out wellness initiatives.”
In 2010, ThedaCare began redesigning hospital cafeterias to provide healthier food options for employees, patients and visitors. Healthy options are offered in cafeterias, break areas and at meetings.
“We are extremely proud of our continued leadership in the area of worksite wellness. This is our second time earning the highest award level; the first being in 2012,” said Leigh. “We continue to explore new and innovative ways to grow our program.”
The Well Workplace Awards initiative is driven by a rigorous set of criteria outlined in WELCOA’s seven benchmarks to a result-oriented Well Workplace. Since its inception in 1991, more than 1,000 organizations, ranging from educational institutions to non-profit and profit sectors, have joined the list of “America’s Healthiest Companies” by receiving the Well Workplace Award.
The Wellness Council of Wisconsin was founded in 1985 by nine employers from the Wisconsin business community. ThedaCare is one of only nine companies in the nation to be recognized for the highest level of commitment to worksite wellness this year.
About ThedaCare
For more than 110 years, ThedaCare® has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast and Central Wisconsin. The organization serves a community of more than 600,000 residents and employs more than 6,700 healthcare professionals throughout the regions. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose as well as 31 clinics in nine counties. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving our specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs as well as a foundation dedicated to community service.
For more information, visit www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.
Media should call Cassandra Wallace, Public Relations Specialist at 920.442.0328 or the ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah switchboard at 920.729.3100 and ask for the marketing person on call.
