WorkHealthy Hospital Spotlight features Valir Health

Posted on: 11/28/18

Valir Health is the second hospital to be featured in the regular WorkHealthy Hospital Spotlight series. This series features various hospitals that participate in OHA’s WorkHealthy Hospitals (WHH) initiative, a grant program of TSET. These hospitals’ efforts encompass the spirit of employee wellbeing and stand out from the crowd. Valir Health is a WHH Excellence hospital, which means they have demonstrated best practice implementation in all dimensions of the WHH assessment.

What sets them apart…

Valir Health embeds employee wellbeing into their hospital’s operating culture. Research shows that the most successful companies, based on the both the S&P 500 and customer satisfaction, actively establish cultures that value all stakeholders, starting at the employee level. A best practice tour of successful organizations demonstrates that a company cannot deliver a great consumer experience without first delivering a great employee experience. Valir serves to do just that.

After starting the WHH initiative, Valir created a brand and logo for their wellness initiative, titled WellAware. Valir’s diverse WellAware team created a mission statement, annual goals, and a robust incentive program for their initiative. Valir’s executive team then approved adding “health and wellness” into their already established core values, which is included in every employee’s job description. The WellAware team demonstrates a collaborative approach that invites creativity and crucial feedback to ensure the best interest of Valir employees.

Annually, the WellAware Team reports on critical performance indicators that are strategically aligned with the Valir WellAware program goals and the operations goals of the organization.

Another aspect that sets Valir apart is that one of their biggest wellness leaders, Bill Turner, is the vice president of human resources for the system. It is known that senior leadership must be supportive of wellness initiatives and demonstrate engagement in order for the initiatives to have a chance of succeeding and Turner does not take his role in that lightly.

“In order to achieve desired sustainability, you must integrate wellness into your organization’s core values. Adding ‘must model healthy behaviors’ not only as a component of each employee’s job descriptions, but also included in each employee’s annual performance review, sends a message that clearly communicates that wellness is not just a tag line but rather a behavioral expectation of everyone in the organization.”

Health and Wellness – Actively demonstrates commitment to supporting health and wellness initiatives through modeling healthy behaviors and supporting the organization in its efforts to improve the quality of life for its employees and those we serve.

Three years into the enhanced wellness initiative, Valir is continuing to see steady engagement in the WellAware program. Valir’s efforts have proven successful, resulting in an increase in participation of their wellness programs in addition to reductions in health care costs and employee turnover. Each year, the WellAware team reevaluates goals and programming to best benefit their employees.

For information on the WorkHealthy Hospitals initiative, contact Sydney Tomlinson, OHA health improvement initiatives specialist, (405) 427-9537, or [email protected].