Employee wellness programs: a healthy workforce gets the job done.

AuthorAnderson, Tom
PositionHEALTHCARE

Companies of all sizes in all industries face the daily reality that an employee might become afflicted with an ailment or suffer an injury that slows momentum, adversely affects performance and productivity, and dampens company morale.

To counter the potential loss of work caused by a sick employee, medical providers, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and fitness centers are making concerted efforts to design and implement programs to improve employee wellness. This wellness-based focus may very well help change Alaska's lagging employment statistics by encouraging a healthy mindset among the state's workforce.

A July 2017 "Alaska Economic Trends" report from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development ranks Alaska last in terms of job growth and unemployment. There are a variety of factors that contribute to stagnate or declining employment rates. For example, the fluctuating prices of Alaska's natural resources, along with seasonal work variances, affect Alaska's employment statistics, but there is another factor often overlooked by employers: worker health.

While there are dozens of methods a business owner can promote to incentivize health and wellness in the workplace, the science behind such efforts is just as important as the programs themselves. Alaska's employers and workers are fortunate enough to have a multitude of choices to help them improve their health and wellbeing through preventative measures and wellness programs.

Medical Group of Alaska

Wade Erickson, MD, and CEO Billy Houck work diligently through their collective of five clinics and centers to ensure Alaskan employees and their family members have access to wellness counseling and treatment. Medical Group of Alaska (MGA) offers family medicine, urgent care, pharmaceutical, physical therapy, and pain management treatment options for Alaskan workers in Mat-Su and Eagle River, with anticipated expansion into Anchorage in the fall of 2017. MGA is the umbrella company under which Capstone Family Medicine operates. "We offer an extensive employee wellness program," says Erickson. "From drug testing and worker compensation evaluations to pre-employment physicals and screening, Capstone Family Medicine and our family of companies are active in patient coverage."

Erickson adds that occupational health licensing--along with hearing and respiratory services, drug screening, firefighter pre-employment exams, flight and CDL physicals, and standard employment medical evaluations--are all part of MGA's wellness program.

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Houck has worked with Erickson since he launched Capstone Family Medicine's business development division in 2010. "What's unique about our practice is that we apply our philosophy to our own employees," says Houck. He explains that from dental to medical coverage, MGA strives to inspire its employees to live and be healthy. "We offer nutrition education as well as fitness and 'Ideal Protein' planning [and] medically-monitored weight-loss programs. We promote use of fitness clubs, offer mental and emotional health counseling for employees facing personal challenges, and we even hold off on vending machines in our facilities, preferring catering and supporting local, nutritious choices for events and catering needs at local restaurants in the Valley like Bistro Red Beet and Turkey Red," says Houck, who adds that keeping Alaskans healthy, particularly at work, is a priority for his medical team.

In an occupational health and wellness sense, he says employers most fear a worker's absence from the job. MGA works with Alaska businesses as a one-stop wellness source for employees and their families. "This results in a win-win for commerce and community," says Houck.

The Alaska Club

Alaska business owners and workers have everything to gain from promoting good health and fitness in the workplace. Physically active employees are more productive, healthier, happier, and even more engaged--all of which contribute to a positive bottom line. The Alaska Club adopted this philosophy more than two decades ago and today has built a successful corporate wellness partnership program.

Tina Day, The Alaska Club's director of marketing and public relations, says many Alaska businesses offer...

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