Wellness starts in the workplace

Hospice of Lubbock, a nonprofit organization that employs about 70 staff members and serves some 700 western Texas patients and families each year, seeks to advance worker wellness through parent company Providence’s Choose Well benefit.

The program includes a diabetes prevention and management program; video-on-demand fitness classes and expert workouts from personal trainers; mental health resources; help with smoking cessation and more.

Staff members can earn financial incentives, such as cash in their health savings account or flexible spending account, for working on their personal health objectives.

“We can just log into the Choose Well app and be intentional about walking 10,000 steps a day, and there’s real dollars attached to that,” said Dr. Jeremy Brown, Hospice of Lubbock’s executive director. “It gives us the tools to be able to succeed in our goals.”

Organizations like Hospice of Lubbock that shine in the “healthiest” category of Modern Healthcare's Best Places to Work list help employees integrate beneficial habits into everyday activities.

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Hospice of Lubbock is part of Covenant Health, which merged with Renton, Washington-based Providence a few years ago. Hospice employees have low-cost access to Covenant Health’s local gym, which includes a swimming pool and equipment to assist with cardiac and physical rehabilitation.

“There are trainers on-site to help you,” Brown said. “Providence and Covenant, and Hospice of Lubbock, really do promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Best Places to Work in Healthcare - Hospice of Lubbock

Catapult Healthcare Services, a national staffing company based in Plano, Texas, that serves hospitals, outpatient facilities and rehabilitation/skilled-nursing facilities, offers two “wellness days” per year for each employee.

“If you need a break, you can take a day off without giving a reason and it doesn’t count against your paid time off,” said Olivia Burke, marketing and communications lead.

Best Places to Work in Healthcare - Catapult Healthcare Services

“If you need a break, you can take a day off without giving a reason and it doesn’t count against your paid time off."

Olivia Burke, marketing and communications lead at Catapult Healthcare Services

The mission of Beach Cities Health District, a public agency serving three communities in Los Angeles’ South Bay area, is to promote disease prevention and wellness—starting with its own workforce.

“We see our employees as ambassadors of healthy living and what we want to see out in our community as well,” said Megan Vixie, the health district’s chief engagement officer.

Beach Cities leaders advocate for walking or taking group meditation breaks during meetings. Employees get a free membership to the district’s fitness center, and they can work out during the day. The district sponsors an annual 5K and 10K run for its employees. And food guidelines encourage healthy consumption at the workplace.

Best Places to Work in Healthcare - Beach Cities Health District

“If you go into our kitchens, you won’t find doughnuts,” Vixie said. “We provide healthy snacks, but we also want to make sure people don’t bring their kids’ leftover birthday cake to the lunchroom for people to finish. We want to create a healthy environment, not have temptation.

“If people are ordering food for meetings or to host external partners, they are following our healthy guidelines as well,” she added.

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The district, which has about 100 full-time and 30 seasonal employees, uses biometric health screenings and health risk assessments to identify risks and opportunities within its workforce. Its Work Well committee uses the analysis to develop quarterly challenges around nutrition, physical activity, stress reduction or another health-related topic that employees can focus on.

Participants are paired to serve as “accountability buddies” during challenges.

“Our current challenge is Witness the Fitness, so we’re focused on fitness activities throughout the work week,” Vixie said. “And we check in with our buddies to make sure we accomplish the tasks that we are assigned each week. It adds a lot of fun, and hopefully stress reduction, to our workdays.”

Attending to employee well-being is built into managers’ responsibilities. This year, Beach Cities plans to further operationalize work-life balance.

“This makes [it] intentional for us to define work-life balance for our employees and to make sure that we’re focusing not only on what work needs to be done, but what is going on with them as well,” Vixie said.

Lola Butcher is a freelance writer based in Springfield, Mo.

Best Places to Work in Healthcare 2022