Thriving Together: The Journey of Bertrand Chaffee Hospital’s Healthier Workforce

Summary
n 2023-2024, partners came together to increase access to healthier snack bar options and opportunities for physical activity throughout the workplace for Bertrand Chaffee Hospital (BCH) employees as part of the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities (CHSC) Grant Project.

Challenge
As a place that encourages taking care of one’s health and wellbeing, Bertrand Chaffee Hospital’s Community & Development Relations coordinator Erin Schwab-George, realized there was room for improvement in promoting nutrition and physical activity for its 350 employees.
 

Committee Creation
After our initial meeting about CHSC, Erin quickly took the initiative to form a diverse wellness committee. Within a week, she successfully recruited 17 employees from many departments, such as Food Service, Director of Primary Care, Nurse Managers, Dietetics, LPN, PSR Manager, Recruiting and Retention Coordinator, Employee Health, Diabetes Care Specialist, Medical Surgical Nurse Manger and ER Nurse Manager. The wellness committee even recruited community members & partners like avid hiker Chuck, and Debbie from Springville Love Inc. With the wellness committee identified, the partnership began in November 2023.

Approach
During the initial meetings of the wellness committee and the completion of the Food Service guideline assessment, we identified several areas for improvement. The Strive snack bar offered healthier options, but these were often hidden on lower shelves, less visible and least likely to be purchased. The committee acknowledged that there was an indoor walking path that could be completed during a 15-minute break, but they had little to no motivation to go on a walk. Members of the committee also shared that in the new building, there was a dedicated space where you can work out, but it was not utilized because the equipment was old and unusable.

Impact
Focusing efforts on highlighting healthier food options, the committee identified a handful of healthier snacks that were already included in the Strive snack bar such as veggie straws and healthier chip versions, LUNA, CLIF and Nature Valley granola bars, and nut and dried fruit blends, that we purchased from a grocery store with CHSC funding. On an employee wellness day shortly after, we hosted a sample event so employees could try the snacks that were already available within Strive.

Moving onto increasing opportunities to be more physically active, the wellness committee addressed the little to no motivation to go on a walk during the workday and decided to give hosting a Step Challenge a try. The first Step Challenge lasted 4 weeks from January 8th to February 4th with 70 employees participating. To help support the step-challenge, CHSC funding supported the purchase of pedometers and safety whistles, so employees would be able to track their steps and feel safe if they were walking by themselves. Employees would track their number of steps and send them to Erin for her to record. The group’s steps for the first round totaled over 7.8 million steps!

CHSC | Success Story
Aside from the step challenge, the committee wanted to focus on more opportunities to be active through obtaining new & safe equipment for their work out room. With CHSC funding, we were able to purchase an elliptical, treadmill, cycling bike, kettlebells, an adjustable bench, various sized weights, resistance bands, yoga balls and yoga mats. Plans to utilize this room aside from employees coming here as they are able, includes hosting workout classes, with an employee and member of the wellness committee, who is a certified fitness instructor.

“Partnering with the CHSC grant was invaluable, starting our wellness committee became not just a goal but a reality, and we are looking forward where it is going to take us in the future.” -Erin Schwab-George

What’s Next?
So, what’s the plan after all these amazing opportunities have been implemented? The committee will be focusing on sustainability beyond CHSC support in several ways and looking to improve these strategies.

We will be working on using behavioral design strategies to move the healthier food options at the Strive snack bar to eye level, so they are much easier to identify. The committee will look at how to improve the step challenge, so employees are engaged throughout the entire process. We are planning to use CHSC funding to purchase tile or wall safe stickers to make the indoor walking path easier to identify. To help support all these changes, we will also be creating the hospital’s wellness policy.

The CHSC & BCH partnership has also led to BCH’s increased presence within their Springville community. Erin now represents BCH, within the Springville Regional Community Coalition, where CHSC has a great presence, working with many community partners and members. The CHSC & Bertrand Chaffee team is excited to continue to increase opportunities for all employees and their involvement within the Springville Community.