Hospital’s employee wellness program receives national recognition
Kootenai Medical Center recognized with WELCOA award for employee
wellness program designed by the North Idaho Health Network
COEUR D’ALENE, IDAHO (March 10, 2009) –The North Idaho Health Network (NIHN) and Kootenai Medical Center (KMC) have been recognized by Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA) as one of the nation’s healthiest companies. KMC received a “Gold” Well Workplace Award, just 1.2 points below the Platinum level, the organization’s highest recognition.
Jo Anne Bell, RN, MPH, director of Healthy Directions, the wellness program division of NIHN and developers of the wellness programs for KMC, submitted the application in January 2009.
“To receive this level of excellence and this national recognition takes years of commitment from many people and the dedication from the hospital (KMC) to help employees be as healthy as they can be,” said Bell.
Driven by a pre-defined set of worksite wellness criteria, organizations of all kinds compete to be recognized as on of America’s Healthiest Companies. A Well Workplace is an organization fully embracing its responsibility for maximizing the health and well-being of its employees. In a Well Workplace Award winning organization employee wellness is part 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.
Four designations of the Well Workplace Award are possible to achieve – Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Criteria for each of these designations are based upon progressive development and implementation of an organization wellness initiative within the context of seven critical benchmarks, shown to produce results in organizations of all sizes and industry types.
Healthy Directions is a comprehensive worksite wellness program developed by NIHN and first implemented at Kootenai Health in 1999. Kootenai Health has served as a beta site for program testing for NIHN’s Healthy Directions program and, as a result of the foresight and progressiveness of Kootenai Health, Healthy Directions has grown into north Idaho’s premiere worksite wellness program for employee groups. Healthy Directions is available for implementation in organizations throughout the north Idaho region.
For more information about North Idaho Health Network and Healthy Directions, go to www.NIHN.net.
About North Idaho Health Network – The non-profit North Idaho Health Network (NIHN) was founded in 1994 to meet the needs of the community with the belief that healthcare should be managed and delivered locally. NIHN responds to the health care needs of individuals and businesses by providing the most efficiently managed health services at the local level by working together to achieve high quality, cost-effective care to the people in the communities served. www.NIHN.net
