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 “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 do 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.

“Is Cleveland Clinic is going to penalize employees or potential employees who are obese.”

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.