Case Studies

WellnessWorks at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center

Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center
Wabasha, MN
25 Beds

Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center, part of Ministry Health Care, is a critical access hospital in Wabasha, Minnesota.

The Problem
In 2003, Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center built a robust program, WellnessWorks, which includes a variety of wellness offerings for staff and family members. Its objectives were to create a culture of wellness, address high claims of utilization and serve as an example to the community. Seeing great value in workforce wellness, Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center began campaigning for similar programs in the community. The medical center started collaborating with local businesses to provide wellness screening for their employees.

The Solution
The wellness program at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center encouraged employee participation in activities that promote physical exertion and improve nutrition. This later expanded to a more robust initia¬tive that includes an on-site family wellness center, biometric screening/health risk assessment, clinical consultation/coaching, tobacco cessation and nicotine replacement products, LEARN Healthy Lifestyle series, Medication Therapy Management, chronic disease management programs, healthy cafeteria options and an abundance of wellness education, activities and resources.

In transforming the culture of health at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center, the comprehensive wellness program catered to the needs of both high- and low-risk employees, offering varying levels of participation based on health status and physical ability, ensuring a broad range of engagement in the workplace.
Many offerings of WellnessWorks are either free or discounted. The program provides monetary incentives to further encourage staff and family participation. For example, employees receive a $50 reward for completing an annual physical, a yearly dental checkup, a flu shot and a biometric screening/consultation. They may also earn up to $200 for completing tiered exercise and nutritional requirements.

The Result
Over time, participation rates grew and health status improved among individuals in the program. Early in 2011, Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center reported that more than 60 percent of its workforce is participating in on-site wellness programs and activities. Many employees are also adopting healthy habits and reducing risk factors. Over a five-year period, participants experienced 67 percent reduction in high-risk total cholesterol, 36 percent reduction in high-risk LDL cholesterol and 56 percent reduction in pre-diabetes.

As the largest employer in the community, Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center has made its wellness efforts a paradigm for improving overall community health. The medical center is reaching out to local businesses, schools and other community organizations to share resources and knowledge.

Lessons Learned
Financial constraints make it challenging for Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center to hire staff dedicated to coordinating the wellness program. As a result, wellness committee members took on various roles. Wellness committee members emphasize that gaining administrative support, integrating wellness initiatives into the strategic plan and continually enhancing and improving services through employee feedback are necessary to retaining participation.

Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center is a small, rural medical center, and it struggled to sustain cost savings since a small number of large claims—one or two—can have a significant impact on its small group market. Through WellnessWorks, Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center found that it can reduce or at least maintain health care costs. According to Jim Root, vice president of human resources, investing in well-ness can benefit the medical center up to $6 in savings for every dollar spent in claims, absenteeism and lost productivity.

Contact Information
Jim Root
(651) 565-5526
jim.root@ministryhealth.org

This case study was originally featured in the HPOE guide: "Engaging Health Care Users: A Framework for Healthy Individuals and Communities," published January, 2013.

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