9. Wellness Focus

Healthier employees bring increased energy, stamina and a positive attitude to the workplace, while needing less costly medical care. St. John's wellness programs are designed to help each individual reach his or her optimal state of health, through education and promotion of healthy lifestyles.

St. John’s no longer only focuses on illness-related care. The health system’s programs and services are designed to educate patients and encourage them to take an active role in their health care.

St. John’s educates patients on how to best manage their chronic disease, whether it be diabetes, asthma, congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

“We’ve found that incentives are an effective way to help patients focus on wellness and prevention,” says Susan Blackard, R.N., vice president of St. John’s Corporate Health and Wellness Services. “We pilot a variety of wellness programs on our own co-workers first to make sure they are effective, then we introduce them to our other health plans partners. Wellness is much more than exercising and eating right. We teach people to take personal responsibility for their health.”

One wellness program St. John’s successfully launched internally, then expanded to other health plans members, is Weight-Loss Challenge, a weight-loss team competition that rewards the “biggest losers” with cash prizes.

Weight-Loss Challenge includes quarterly weigh-ins and measurements and is now offered at Springfield ReManufacturing Co. and Kraft. In addition to the wellness programs, St. John’s also provides wellness coordinators for many Springfield employers.

“St. John’s Health System, and each of our employer partners, has their own customized wellness program,” says Amy Little, St. John’s wellness coordinator. “St. John’s program, which is a rewards system, is based on points for healthy activities such as exercising, drinking water, getting annual check-ups and managing stress. Participants are awarded gift certificates and other prizes depending on how many points they acquire in a certain time period.”

St. John’s also offers Road to Freedom, a tobacco-cessation program, for its co-workers and the community.

St. John’s provides company health fairs, health risk assessments and screenings and on-site immunizations on Wellness On Tour, a 40-foot mobile health bus. Wellness On Tour offers mammography, bone density testing, prostate cancer screening, physicals, more wellness classes, seminars, support groups, health education materials and one-on-one consultations.