A Message from Michael Roizen, M.D.,
Chief Wellness Officer
This is it—the Wellness Advisor. I know, the title is boring, but here is your chance to help us come up with a racier name. Send us your suggestions and if we use your title, you’ll be rewarded with two Cavs tickets to a regular game next year. I have to warn you, you may have to sit next to me. So, if you dare, complete this wellness questionnaire and include your suggestion for a new name.
After Dr. Cosgrove asked me to be Cleveland Clinic’s first chief wellness officer, we got together and came up with three major goals we want to achieve.
1. To make this the best place to work and the healthiest work environment.
2. To improve the health of our community and the communities we serve.
3. To foster optimum health and wellness for ourselves (first) and everyone we touch.
It starts with YOU!
We’re going to be relentless about making Cleveland Clinic the best and healthiest place to work, but we need your ideas. Send your ideas by completing the wellness questionnaire.
I promise your ideas (and I bet your ideas will probably be a lot better than ours) won’t get lost in some committee. In addition to the wellness committees, which have already been established at all sites, we’ve put together a special group to review and implement these and other suggestions. The group includes folks from nutrition, fitness, cafeteria services, vending services, the employee assistance program, medical care programs and community outreach. We’ll meet twice a month to review suggestions, cut-through points of resistance to get the best suggestions implemented and keep you updated on what we’ve accomplished.
Why are we doing this?
Cleveland Clinic is about health care. We’re good at it. In fact, YOU make us one of the top hospitals in America. But while we’re good at treating disease, we’ve got a way to go in promoting wellness, or as I call it, “staying young.” Staying young means instead of dying slowly and painfully over decades, we stay healthy into old age, and experience only a brief decline before passing on.
In addition, our society can't afford to pay for the treatment of illnesses that are expected to affect Americans in the next 10 years. Not at the rate we're paying now. Forty percent, 4 out of every 10, premature deaths (younger than age 75) are caused by lifestyle choices like using tobacco, eating unhealthy foods and being physically inactive; and at least 25 cents of every dollar spent on medical care is caused by lifestyle choices. These rising costs are a serious issue for the United States and for the Clinic. It affects our ability to remain competitive and to create new jobs in the future. Cleveland Clinic needs to be a role model in moving our society from a culture of illness to wellness.
What we need to do now
On a personal level, everyone needs to set a personal healthcare goal every year. A target you can focus on, just for yourself. You don’t have to hit the target. But think about how great it will feel to succeed. Think about it, do you really want to spend the last 10, 20 or 30 years of your life in assisted living – with the high point of your day looking forward to dinner and staying awake to catch Wheel of Fortune?
From a health system perspective, we are going to remove the toxins—whether it’s a trans fat, a non-green cleaning product, wastes, disposables, etc—from our hospitals, clinics and family health centers. This will take time and money, but in the long run it will save time and money. We have rooted out tobacco from our environment and have made it a condition of employment in the future. Tobacco avoidance will continue to be at the forefront of our local, regional and national agenda. And we will continue to offer any and all assistance to our employees who want to quit smoking.
A question I’m frequently asked
“Is Cleveland Clinic is going to penalize employees or potential employees who are obese.” This is a question I hear quite often. So please spread this rumor—the answer is no. We will offer some great programs to help people lose weight. We also may figure out some ways to reward people who practice good health habits by lowering their health plan costs.
In closing
Don’t forget to send your suggestions for a healthier workplace, and include your suggestions to rename this newsletter and win Cavs tickets in our wellness questionnaire. Stay young!
