This program was created in conjunction with the Employee Wellness Program HealthWise to enhance employee, family and community wellness by providing resources, education and programming at the hospital.
The Biggest Loser Challenge kicked off with an initial weigh-in of the 26 teams consisting of 136 employees. For the next 12 weeks, goals were posted to keep everyone motivated. The person with the highest percentage of weight loss dropped 44 pounds, and several other employees lost more than 30.
Clarion Hospital employee Katherine Heginbotham said, “When I joined the Biggest Loser competition, I was ready … for change, ready to look better. I have had great success in losing weight through the HealthWise program, and losing weight with friends and co-workers makes it easier.”
In 2013, the hospital and community members created the Community Health Needs Assessment process. The goal of this program was to identify the most pressing health and wellness needs in Clarion and its surrounding communities. Research found that a lack of physical activity, obesity and diabetes were the areas that could be most improved by the new program. To begin to address these problems, leaders thought that they should start “here at home” with Clarion Hospital.
Wellness Coordinator at Clarion Hospital, Bridget Thornton, started building the foundations of a program that could address these issues. Out of this came HealthWise at Clarion Hospital.
HealthWise is a comprehensive wellness initiative that offers classes, programs and incentives to get employees to lead a healthier lifestyle.
Employees have the opportunity to take exercise classes such as Zumba, and all employees were given pedometers and walking maps so they could measure the distance walked and steps taken.