Oakland County wellness program racks up awards

Corp! Magazine has named OakFit, Oakland County's employee wellness program, as one of its Best & Brightest in Wellness® winners for a third year in a row, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced last week.

"Winning this award for a third year in a row is a testament to how innovative Oakland County's employee wellness program continues to be," Patterson said. "Not only are we finding new ways to help employees improve their overall health, we continue to save taxpayers money on our employee healthcare costs."

OakFit has received a total of 10 awards since its inception in 2007. These awards include the Best & Brightest in Wellness award for three years running; National Association of Counties Achievement Awards in 2007, 2010, and 2015; Governor's Fitness Awards in 2014 and 2015; one of Crain's Detroit's Michigan's Healthiest Employers in 2013; and the Value Based Health Award in 2011. Fox News Channel has also spotlighted the wellness program as a national model for innovation in government.

"We have a lot of employee participation in OakFit because we offer topics and classes with wide appeal," said Jordie Kramer, Oakland County human resources director. "One of our most popular programs enables employees to walk dogs from our animal shelter here on our government campus."

The nationally-recognized OakFit program will be honored at the Best and Brightest in Wellness® Symposium and Awards Gala on Oct. 20 and featured in the November print edition of Corp! Magazine.

Oakland County launched OakFit back in 2007 to help manage the county's rising healthcare costs. Since its inception, OakFit has helped the county save more than $24 million in health care costs. Eligible employees are asked to participate in an on-site biometric health screening by a third party vendor which provides immediate results for cholesterol, glucose, blood sugar and BMI (Body Mass Index). It also includes one-on-one time with a nurse who discusses employees' health histories and provides tools to help them toward a healthy lifestyle. In addition, employees fill out an online health risk assessment.

Employees who participate in both the health screening and the health risk assessment get $100 added to their paychecks. OakFit also offers a number of innovative programs to assist employees with taking responsibility for their health including weight watchers at work, instructor-led exercise classes, and lunch and learn series covering topics such as how to manage diabetes, among others.

For additional information, go to www.OakGov.com/exec and click on "OakFit Wellness Review."

Published: Mon, Sep 12, 2016