The Kosciusko Community Health and Wellness Center hosted a corporate health fair Thursday afternoon for around 30 businesses.
Human resources directors, health and safety management personnel, occupational health nurses and insurance brokers were all on hand to discuss ways for businesses to control rising health care costs while providing screenings to employees.
Megan Martin, director of MedStat and KCH Wellness Services, and Scott Feather, business development specialist, MedStat, helped coordinate the event.
Martin said this was one of the first times the wellness center hosted such an event.
“We’re looking to educate HR personnel on what their company might need,” said Feather.
Feather and Martin both said that preventative screenings like the ones on display Thursday can actually help decrease a company’s health care costs down the road through early detection of potential problems employees may have.
Developing an array of services to employees, Martin said, can be provided at low or no cost.
Collateral benefits to employers with healthier employees can include:
– Less sick days used
– Increased performance and morale
– Less short-term disability
– Improved ability to attract and keep personnel
“Companies are dealing with higher deductibles,” said Martin. “But with these programs it can also provide them with savings.”
Along with things like blood pressure checks and vision screenings, a web-based program called iTriage was also on display.
It’s available by going to itriagehealth.com or is available for download on android and iPhones along with BlackBerry units and Palm products.
It serves as an application that allows people to check their symptoms, but also allows for people to find their nearest health care provider.
It can work off the person’s home zip code or on the location they are at while using the app.
Feather said that soon people looking to go to MedStat will not only be able to pre-register but also know how long their wait time is through the site.
The Wellness Center also currently offers screenings every third Thursday of the month for people.
Those screenings run from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m.
One tool Martin lauded for companies and individuals is a health-risk assessment.
With that it can help employers determine what their workforce is most at risk for then develops a program around that.
“That’s one of the things companies are really looking for,” said Martin. “They want to find out what their employees really need.”
The assessment is also offered to individuals at the Wellness Center.
Part of the assessment gives people a “health age”. So, for example, a 29-year-old may live a healthy lifestyle and have a health age of 24, but a 29-year-old with unhealthy habits and choices may be 35.
“It’s a great tool to help people with their health,” said Martin.
Warsaw Chemical’s Troy Shull and Kristy Bucher were some of the people on hand for Thursday’s event.
Shull works in environmental health and safety, while Bucher is the human resources manager. Bucher said Warsaw Chemical is looking to develop a wellness program to help keep their employees healthy and health care costs low.
For Warsaw Chemical, Bucher said they were looking at things like pre-screenings, weight management and smoking cessation.
For companies that couldn’t make it to Thursday’s wellness fair, contact Feather at 574-372-3895 for information on developing a wellness plan.
