RICE COUNTY
320 N.W. Third Street
Faribault, MN  55021

January 14, 2010 – Press Release

Healthy Rice County: Achieving Wellness in the Workplace Coalitions Forming to Help Worksites with Employee Wellness

Rice County Public Health is pleased to introduce Healthy Rice County: Achieving Wellness in the Workplace. The purpose of Achieving Wellness in the Workplace is to engage employers in developing or enhancing worksite wellness. The goal is to build a culture of health at the workplace that supports healthy behaviors. A team of wellness experts will provide consultation through two new employer coalitions for both the Faribault area and the Northfield area.

This project is funded through the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) which was established under a 2008 Minnesota State Legislature appropriation of $47 million. All 87 counties and eight tribal governments are receiving funding over the next one-and-a-half years through grants and technical assistance to help lower the number of Minnesotans who use tobacco, or who are obese or overweight.*

Employers are being recruited now to participate. Whether your organization has an employee wellness program in place or is new to this type of work – you are invited to learn more and participate. The project runs from early 2010 through June 2011. The registration deadline is February 26, 2010.

Ideal characteristics of participating organizations

The project is ideal for organizations that have a high-level leader who actively supports employee wellness activities. Each organization will provide a primary contact and form an internal workgroup(s) to help with planning and implementation.

The coalitions will meet monthly. Organizations will participate in a formal planning process, and receive guidance to enact/enhance polices and make healthy improvements at the worksite. The commitment to perform these activities and the ability to influence initiatives, policies and communication in the workplace is also important.

Through a formal Request for Proposal process, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota was selected to facilitate and lead this worksite-based project and the Northfield Area Family YMCA was selected to provide worksite technical assistance and implementation guidance.