Several local businesses are participating in the American Heart Association's Start! program to promote employee health and fitness. Employees at Barron Collier Companies are participating in an in-office walking competition using pedometers, with prizes for reaching step goals. Employers are increasingly offering wellness programs to help control rising healthcare costs from issues like obesity. These programs include fitness facilities, weight loss programs, and incentives for healthy activities. Studies show obesity costs the U.S. billions annually in medical expenses and lost productivity.

1. September 2007 GULFSHORE BUSINESS 39
W
SHAPE UP!How employers entice workers
to improve their
health.
By Rob Esmond
with reporting by
Jill Tyrer
HEN CAROLYN SHAW HEADS
TO THE FEDEX BOX THESE DAYS, SHE TAKES THE
LONG WAY. Her boss, Paul Marinelli, does a loop around
the office before going in.Their colleagues are taking extra
steps, too.
Since the beginning of June, employees at Barron Collier
Companies have voluntarily been donning company-sup-
plied pedometers for an in-house competition.Those who
reach their goal receive prizes, from caps and Subway gift
certificates to a weekend at LaPlaya or a day off. It ends in
November, coinciding with the Heart Walk in Naples.
“The buy-in has been phenomenal,” says Marinelli.
“We have approximately 200 employees that walk
around with pedometers on their hips or belts. People
are constantly saying, ‘How many [steps] do you have
per day?’”
Barron Collier is among the local businesses and
organizations taking part in the American Heart
Association’s Start! program, designed to build a cul-
ture of fitness in companies. It’s a step toward bet-
ter health for employees who might not otherwise take
advantage of wellness programs.
“We’ve found that walking is the easiest form of exer-
cise to start,” says Teresa Ferrari, of the Collier County
AHA chapter. “If you’re doing it within a company with
your co-workers, you’ll be more motivated.”
It’s no surprise that most companies want healthy and
fit employees. Smoking, drinking and obesity-related
illnesses cost employers in terms of rising insurance
costs and productivity loss from absenteeism and lower
performance levels.
According to the Florida Department of Health, 60.7
percent of Florida adults are overweight or obese, and
adult obesity-related illnesses account for 5.1 percent—
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2. 40 GULFSHORE BUSINESS September 2007
nearly $4 billion—of the total annual medical expendi-
tures in the state. More than half of that is paid through
Medicare and Medicaid. A recent study by Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health predicts that, if obe-
sity rates continue climb-
ing at the current
rate in the United
States, 75 per-
cent of adults
and almost 24
percent of chil-
dren will be obese
in eight years,
by 2015.
Obesity alone
has cost the United
States $12.7 billion
annually in medical
expenses and $225.8
billioninlostproductivity,
according to a 2003 report
in the Journal of Occupational
and Environmental Medicine.
Employees feel the effects of an unhealthy
country through higher insurance costs and out-of-
pocket expenses.
“Obesity really is something that is looked at for
[insurance] rates,” says Pete Embry, an insurance bro-
ker with a Paychex Inc. agency in New York, who works
with small businesses in Southwest Florida. In Florida,
insurance companies are allowed to charge 15 percent
more than the baseline rate (at which everyone in the
group is healthy) if someone in the group is obese. (In
some states, Embry adds, there is no limit to how much
an insurer can up the rate.)
“It’s a group, so everybody in the group gets rated
up,” he says.
Soaring healthcare costs and growing attention to
lifestyle-related illnesses are putting the spotlight on
company efforts to improve employee health as a via-
ble way to control rising costs. Companies
might provide workout facili-
ties onsite or membership
in fitness centers, per-
sonal coaches, more
nutritious snacks,
smoking-cessa-
tion or weight-
loss programs,
and financial
incentives for
employees to
reach their goal.
At the Bonita
Bay Group Inc.,
where a wellness com-
mittee of 12 employees
plans the company’s wellness
strategy, many employees start on the
road to fitness at an annual health fair, co-sponsored by
the company’s insurance vendor, where they can receive
health assessments and program information, says ben-
efits manager Becky Kratt.
The company pays a percentage of the cost for
employees and their dependants to quit smoking. It also
contributes to membership fees to fitness centers for
employees and spouses—and it pays some of the costs
for employees to participate in sporting events.
“I’m a runner, and the company will pay for my race fees
up to an annual limit,” Kratt says. “How nice is that?”
Marketing director Amy Smith lost 70 pounds with
help from the company’s weight-loss incentive pro-
gram—provided conveniently onsite and at a 50 per-
cent discount. “Other employees who have lost weight
no longer need certain prescription medications. That
helps reduce their out-of-pocket expenses,” says Kratt.
In addition to lower insurance costs and higher pro-
ductivity, fitness programs pay off for companies in
terms of employee morale and loyalty, she adds. “Our
employees see that we value them.”
Two of Southwest Florida’s largest employers—Lee
and Collier county governments—provide a variety of
fitness and wellness programs.
Lee County offers its 4,000-plus employees help los-
ing weight, quitting smoking and managing stress,
says Heather Kearns, who was hired last year as a full-
time wellness coordinator. As with many employers, its
The American Heart Association has designed the Start!
program to help organizations create a culture of fitness and
physical activity.A representative from a local chapter visits com-
panies interested in participating, provides a free information kit
and helps set up the program with a team leader.To make it easy
for employees to track the distance they walk, companies are
encouraged to establish a route in or near the workplace.
Many participants also choose to join the annual Heart Walk,
scheduled for Nov. 17 in Naples and Dec. 8 in Fort Myers.
For more information, call (239) 498-9288 or visit www.amer
icanheart.org/start
Start! Walking
“We want our employees
to want to participate.
The whole thing is to
promote awareness.
The more aware you are
of your lifestyle,
the more apt you are
to change it.”
GB_SEPT07_038-041_well.indd 40 8/6/07 4:51:33 PM

3. September 2007 GULFSHORE BUSINESS 41
insurance provider offers a
wealth of healthcare informa-
tion and resources.
Collier County started its
wellness program not only
to lower healthcare costs,
but also to reduce absentee-
ism and turnover among its
2,500 employees and increase
productivity, says wellness
program manager Marilyn
Hamachek. “As a result of our
overall wellness programs, our
annual medical claims in fis-
cal year 2006 were reduced by
6 percent [from the previous
year],” she says.
Companies can’t force
employees to use the fitness
benefits they offer, however,
so some introduce incentives
and friendly competition to
sweeten the deal.
Todd Monrad, a director
at the Briggs Wellness Center
in downtown Naples, is coor-
dinating a fitness contest to
encourage NCH Healthcare
System employees to show up
for some cardio and strength
training. Prizes go to the five-
person team that burns the
most calories and lifts the
most weight during the six-
week program.
“We’re hoping to attract
the non-exercising employees
and convert them into people
who make their own personal
health a priority, and not just
their patients’ health,” he says.
The key is to make it
appealing, says Doug Baird,
who is heading up the walking
program for Barron Collier
Companies. “We want our
employees to actively want to
participate, and make it fun.
The whole thing is to promote
awareness. The more aware you are of your lifestyle, the
more apt you are to change it.”
The company passed out several hundred pedome-
ters to participating employ-
ees, including Shaw, 64, who’s
nearly at the 10,000-steps-
a-day goal. “I’m not really
athletic; I gear more toward
stretching,” she says, but “I’m
on the move constantly.”
This is not the company’s
first foray into employee well-
ness. The focus on health
began with the realization that
some managers were not get-
ting regular physicals as they
grew older, putting the com-
pany’s most valuable assets at
risk, says Marinelli.
The company started
requiring annual physicals
for managers, and as a result,
headed off several potentially
serious health problems.
“It’s very hard to measure
or quantify the results [of pro-
moting employee wellness],”
Marinelli says. “Intuitively,
the healthier people are, the
more positive impact it has
on insurance costs.” More
important, he adds, wellness
programs help keep employees
healthy and happy.
It can take some time to see
the effects of a wellness pro-
gram, since it can take several
years for health improvements
to show up. Healthier employ-
ees should see fewer out-of-
pocket expenses for doctors’
visits, heart and cholesterol
medications and other costs
related to inactivity and being
overweight. For the company,
the financial payoff probably
won’t be insurance-rate reduc-
tions but smaller increases,
and with healthcare costs con-
tinuing to escalate, wellness
programs are being viewed as
a way to control costs.
“Employers know that long term, the more they offer,
the rates are going to stay lower [than if they do] noth-
ing at all,” says Embry.
On the move: Organized events such as the American
Heart Association’s Heart Walk can help motivate
employees to get fit.
gb
Employee benefits: Inspired by a company
program, Bonita Bay marketing director Amy Smith
lost 70 pounds.
ABOVE,COURTESYOFTHEAMERICANHEARTASSOCIATION;BELOW,COURTESYOFAMYSMITH
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