R.W. Fernstrum & Company utilize Bellin Health’s Occupational Health to provide pre-employment and return-to-work screenings and workers’ comp medical services.
The journey for R.W. Fernstrum & Company to improve its health is a direct result of the Total Health partnership with Bellin Health.
Making Healthcare Easy and Accessible: Bellin and R.W. Fernstrum & Company: In Their Own Words
How did Bellin and R.W. Fernstrum team up?
We were looking for a partnership that would more closely meet the needs and culture of our employees and our company. Many of our employees had been utilizing Bellin’s services for their personal healthcare, so there was already a feeling of trust for many within our company. Culturally, it seemed that Bellin was more similar to our own business culture than other options that we looked into.
What programs have you implemented to improve the health and wellbeing of your people?
First, we retained Bellin Health to manage our Wellness Across the Grid employee wellness program. There are several facets to our program, a few of which include:
- Encouraging employees to take preventive care seriously.
- Having an on-site nurse available weekly to meet with employees who are interested in wellness coaching.
- Providing in-house training programs on a wide range of wellness topics.
- Encouraging activities that promote health and wellness.
- Providing financial support for employees’ out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Secondly, we also retained Bellin Health’s Occupational Health to provide pre-employment and return-to-work screenings and workers’ comp medical services.
Any particular success stories you’d like to share?
In their Own Words: Marla May BSN, RN, CHWC; Bellin Health Coach and Employer Clinic Nurse
When we think of success stories, we usually think we’re going to hear about how someone lost 50 lbs or another person lost 100 lbs with wellness coaching; however, with R.W. Fernstrum, their successes have been more on a collective front or as a company-wide success.
I have been going onsite to R.W. Fernstrum since July 2021 and initially, I started as monthly and as we grew their wellness program, I am now on-site weekly on Tuesdays for 7 hours.
In the past, they had health coaching, but it did not have the traction they were really looking for. When I came on we started with a general survey to see what the employees wanted of their wellness program. And since that time, we have accomplished the following:
- Designed a company wellness program that is crafted with each employee in mind. It is incentivized by HRA dollars, vacation time and other prizes. The wellness program addresses all areas of a person’s well-being: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial.
- Created an on-site wellness committee, made up of representatives from the office and the production area, including myself. This wellness committee meets to discuss and provide input on the activities and programming that we will roll out yearly.
- Of the 36 employees here (which is divided evenly between 18 office staff and 18 production staff), I coach 17 of these employees on a biweekly basis. Of that 17, 10 are from production and 7 are from the office. Historically at other companies, the office staff tend to be more involved in the wellness programs than production staff, so this is great to see.
- Their wellness program is directly tied to HRA dollars that are paid out monthly to the participants for various activities ranging from preventive wellness exams to monthly challenges, classes, community involvement, etc.
- This year we have seen the most participation from staff for the quarterly classes that I teach. We are averaging 26-27 staff for each class. Topics have included: Advanced Care Planning, Mental Health, Brain Health and soon to be, Sleep.
- This year we have 28/36 staff signed up for the annual HRA. This is an increase from previous years.
- The last 2 challenges we have run, Expedition Fitness Challenge and Tackle Your Health (currently in progress) have been team challenges and have created so much energy and camaraderie. One of the owners had designed a special trophy for the Expedition Fitness Challenge and it is being created in the production area, so that has been really fun. Staff have asked to do a team challenge monthly as opposed to individual challenges.
- Many individual successes: weight loss, decreased tobacco usage, increased physical activity, improved mental wellbeing, decreased soda consumption (we have one person that decreased from a case of regular soda daily – yes a case – to 2 cans/day.)
