Message from our Leadership

NEW: Toby's Blog from Dr. Cosgrove about Employee Wellness.

Dr. Mike's "For the Health of It" newsletter for Cleveland Clinic employees.

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Dear Cleveland Clinic Employees:

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.

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.

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?

Stay young!

Michael Roizen, M.D.

Chief Wellness Officer

Cleveland Clinic

Letter from Delos M. Cosgrove, M.D.

CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic

and Joseph Hahn, M.D.

Chief of Staff of Cleveland Clinic