Boomers and Seniors

Eighty five of Leon County’s most successful business people got up early January 30th to attend the CEO Kickoff Breakfast introducing Working Well Leon County --the community initiative to get the workforce of Leon County healthier. They heard guest speaker Steve LaCagnin, a partner in West Virginia’s largest law firm explain the value of offering a results-oriented wellness program to employees.

LaCagnin obviously made an impression on the audience because the Initiative is off to an incredible start! We have 17 organizations and companies on board including: the City of Tallahassee, Leon County, FSU, the Leon County School District, Vista Healthplan, Capital Health Plan, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Florida Retail Federation, Mainline Information Systems, Brandt Information Services, Syn-Tech Inc., Premier Bank, Homes and Land, MGT of America, Turner Heritage Homes, Culpepper Construction Company and Gold’s Gym and Women’s World. Here are the benefits the CEO’s heard for designing and delivering a results oriented wellness program to employees:

First, since senior management must buy into a wellness program, they will need to set an example and be a role model so they are either going to get healthier or stay healthy in order to do that.

Second, it helps create a corporate culture that says, “We care about our most important asset—our human capital. Companies that provide a nurturing environment for their employees are the companies who will recruit and retain the best employees. And with the upcoming labor shortage in the next few years as more and more baby boomers retire, this is going to be critical to companies.

Third, a wellness program that follows the “Seven C’s” in the WELCOA model that we talked about in the last article, can see an ROI of at least 3:1, with some companies seeing up to an 11:1 ROI.

Fourth, you are going to create a community that can enhance economic development by offering a healthy, productive workforce with hopefully, lower healthcare costs.

Fifth, you are going to be helping the national healthcare crisis. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that chronic illnesses—diabetes and cardiovascular disease, for example—account for $445 billion in direct medical cost and $409 billion in lost productivity nationally. That same organization also says that 50%-80% of all healthcare costs are directly related to lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, stress, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity to name a few.Effective wellness programs promote and support improving lifestyle behaviors to prevent illnesses instead of having to deal with the costs related to them once they become full blown diseases.

Sixth, you can have fun doing this. Ask anyone who has incorporated a successful wellness program into their company or organization and you will hear about improved employee morale and an uplifted spirit throughout the company.

And if those aren’t enough reasons, the government may give you a few more. Senator Gwen Marglois is sponsoring a bill in the 2007 legislature which reads: “To provide tax credit against the tax on corporate income for certain taxpayer’s expenditures relating to providing fitness facilities or supporting fitness related activities by employers.”

There is also a proposed amendment in the IRS code that would give employers a $200-per-employee credit if the businesses develop and implement their wellness program with the help of a physician, provide at least two preventative health screenings and offer health resources for employees.

So, now that you know why you should join the Initiative, contact co-chair Mary Barley at marybarley50@comcast.net. to find out how!