Health and Wellness Program for County Employees

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

The Cape May County Safety & Wellness Program is a division of the Department of Human Resources & Training and is offered to all county employees. It was developed to promote a culture of safety and wellness by serving as a resource for the health, safety and wellbeing of County employees. The Division provides training, technical expertise, quality educational programs, opportunities for employees to develop healthier lifestyles, supportive consultation, active communication and a culture of managing risk through compliance and shared responsibility. The purpose was to encourage a healthy lifestyle choices, at no cost to the employee. Safety training was provided to offer knowledge and skills to improve and maintain health that would enhance personal and/or work performance. The collaborative wellness program, introduced in 2014, provides opportunities that support growth in the multiple dimensions of health: physical, emotional, social, and environmental. Healthy eating programs were added including cooking and nutrition classes. An onsite wellness center was opened, offering exercise equipment and programs, opened 24/7 to fit the needs of the employees. Trained staff from the Department of Human Resources are available to assist employees in managing their health care and answer questions concerning wellness. The success of the program, in terms of objective criteria, can be measured by the $1,500,000 saved in health benefits from 2015 to 2016 and the $1,251,547 saved in workers' comp claims. Additionally, the upgrades at the gym led to increased membership, which means more healthy employees. An added measure of success in improved employee morale.