Corporate Wellness Helps Bottom Line--and Weight Loss

Corporate wellness plays in Peoria.

A recent article in the Peoria Journal Star looks at the success of corporate wellness programs at local employers like OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and Methodist Medical Center.

• At Methodist employees have access to a team trainer. As incentives, employees receive $200 off health club expenses each year (if they attend regularly). Part-timers get $100.
• At OSF Saint Frances, they're using walking programs and more attractive stair wells (to encourage stair use)
  

One useful statistic quoted in the piece particularly stood out: According to the 2008 National Study of Employers from Ceridian Lifeworks, a Minneapolis company that works on health and productivity solutions for businesses:

Employees who are 30 to 60 pounds overweight average $917 more a year in medical and absenteeism costs than their healthy-weight counterparts. That number rises to $2,256 for employees who are 60 to 100 pounds overweight.

The bottom line? If they lose weight, your bottom line improves.

Yet another great reason to finally start that company-wide Weight Watchers group or walking program…