Wellness and the bottom line.

• Author: Martel, Judy
• Position: Employee wellness programs

"Physical fitness is equating to fiscal fitness"

Nearly two years ago, an employee at the Endress+Hauser manufacturing plant was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the entire Greenwood company, which makes leveling and measuring devices, felt the pain of one suffering worker.

"We're a fairly small company (about 200 employees), so when you do have a woman with breast cancer, it heightens your awareness," says Patty Harmon, personnel manager. "We went through a lot of things with her," seeing the effects of the chemotherapy and cancer treatment, Harmon says.

The timing was right for the company to upgrade its wellness program. About that time, Harmon heard about on-site mammography testing provided by St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers, and now the company offers on-site testing annually.

"We have tested about 70 percent of the eligible women" through the on-site mammography mobile unit, Harmon says.

The wellness program at Endress+Hauser also includes on-site screenings for other health risks, like high cholesterol and blood pressure, and the company reimburses part of the cost for health club memberships and cancer screenings.

Harmon has no doubt that the company is saving money in the long run. "It's hard to put your finger on the numbers, but there can't be any question that early detection of breast cancer does help," she says.

Bringing health screenings to the employees has a variety of benefits. Seven or eight of the women at Endress+Hauser were beyond the age when they should have been screened for breast cancer, Harmon says, "so had it not been for the convenience and cost, they may not have had it done at all."

St. Francis, in Beech Grove, has been a leader in wellness programs for companies, and like many other hospitals, is now blazing a trail toward preventive medicine, rather than being a place people come to heal.

According to Tom McMullen, manager of corporate health services at St. Francis, the hospital has been pursuing corporate wellness programs for about seven years, and has served more than 300 companies and 40,000 employees.

As companies grapple with soaring health-care costs, an increasing number are looking at ways to keep employees healthy in the first place.

McMullen cites the average price of some of the surgeries and procedures that could be avoided with healthier living: $30,000 for heart surgery, $29,000 for lung cancer treatment, $22,000 for stroke rehabilitation.

Wellness programs from St. Francis cost...