Oakland County's employee wellness program, OakFit, has captured its third award this year, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced Tuesday. Corp! will honor Oakland County as one of its Best & Brightest In Wellness® winners for 2015 on Oct. 8 at The Henry Hotel in Dearborn. Corp! will also feature Oakland County in its Sept./Oct. 2015 print issue which will focus on companies with trendsetting employee wellness programs.
"To have our employee wellness program honored on national, state, and local levels all in one year is remarkable," Patterson said. "OakFit continues to measurably improve the overall health of our employees while saving taxpayers millions of dollars in county healthcare costs."
Gov. Snyder and the National Association of Counties (NACo) also bestowed awards on OakFit earlier this year.
In April, the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports spotlighted OakFit for a second year in a row. The council accorded Oakland County its Diamond Level Healthy Workplace Award at the Ford Field Atrium in Detroit. The ceremony honored companies which make workplace wellness a priority.
Then in June, NACo, whose awards highlight innovation in government, gave Oakland County its Achievement Award in Personnel Management, Employee Training and Employee Benefits for OakFit's Fitness Unleashed. County employees volunteer at lunchtime to walk dogs from the Oakland County Animal Control & Pet Adoption Center.
"OakFit has made many county employees more health conscious," said Dawn Hunt, wellness coordinator for Oakland County. "The program is successful because of their participation."
Oakland County launched OakFit back in 2007 to help manage the county's rising healthcare costs. Since its inception, OakFit has helped the county save more than $24 million in health care costs.
Eligible employees are asked to participate in an on-site biometric health screening by a third party vendor which provides immediate results for cholesterol, glucose, blood sugar and BMI (Body Mass Index). It also includes one-on-one time with a nurse who discusses employees' health histories and provides tools to help them toward a healthy lifestyle. In addition, employees fill out an online health risk assessment. Employees who participate in both the health screening and the health risk assessment get $100 added to their paychecks.
OakFit also offers a number of innovative programs to assist employees with taking responsibility for their health including weight watchers at work, instructor-led exercise classes, and lunch and learn series covering topics such as how to manage diabetes, among others.
For additional information, go to www.OakGov.com/exec and click on "OakFit Wellness Review."
Published: Thu, Sep 24, 2015
