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Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Receives National Workplace Wellness Award

 March 1, 2010

Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Receives National Workplace Wellness Award

Cheyenne, WY – Cheyenne Regional Medical Center is the only organization in Wyoming and one of only 77 organizations nationwide that has been presented with a 2009 gold workplace award from the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA). Cheyenne Regional received notice of its award in mid-January.

Cheyenne Regional achieved the second-highest of four WELCOA workplace award levels, which include platinum, gold, silver and bronze.

According to WELCOA, the gold award “recognizes organizations developing comprehensive programs producing results. These programs are a strategic and integral part of the business.” Only eight organizations nationwide were recognized with a platinum award for 2009.

WELCOA is a private organization dedicated to helping North American organizations build and sustain results-oriented wellness programs.

Cheyenne Regional’s employee wellness program has enrolled more than 500 employees and volunteers over the past six months. Called “Best Life,” the hospital’s program includes free comprehensive wellness screenings, free membership to a health and fitness center and access to a variety of free or reduced-cost wellness programs and activities throughout the year.

“It’s exciting that Cheyenne Regional Medical Center has been recognized for its Best Life program and the many ways it encourages employees as well as its volunteers to take responsibility for their health by eating right, exercising regularly and getting regular medical checkups and screenings,” said Alice Burron, the hospital’s wellness coordinator.

“Our healthcare system needs to focus on prevention and wellness as much as it does on healing people after they become sick. By encouraging our staff to participate in Best Life, we hope to set an example for our community about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle,” said John Lucas, MD, CEO of Cheyenne Regional.

According to WELCOA’s website, “a well workplace is an organization that fully embraces its responsibility for maximizing the health and well-being of its employees. In a Well Workplace Award winning organization, it is evident that employee wellness has become of the overall business strategy. . . . The vision of protecting and enhancing the health and well-being of each and every employee becomes part of the very fabric of the organization.”

To become a WELCOA award-winning workplace, Cheyenne Regional had to meet seven benchmarks: receive leadership and CEO support, create cohesive wellness teams, collect data to drive health efforts, craft a wellness operating plan, choose appropriate interventions for improving employee health/wellness, create a supportive environment and evaluate outcomes. According to WELCOA, these benchmarks are “inherent in companies that have built results-oriented workplace wellness programs.”