Your Work

STORY ARCHIVE

Creating Healthy Workplaces
Work Well Winter Park
The City of Winter Park Is Recognized as One of Central Florida's Healthiest Employers

Creating Healthy Workplaces

Let's face it - our work families sometimes see more of us than our real families do. Spending so much time in an environment that is unhealthy is challenging, to say the least. If our jobs are sedentary and stressful and if our willpower is continually tested by donuts in the breakroom and candy in the vending machines, research shows even the strongest among us will eventually eat that Krispy Kreme.

But there is a better way and many companies are charting healthy, profitable new courses. Good health is good for business and it's definitely good for people. That's why Healthy Central Florida is pleased to partner with Work Well Winter Park and Florida Hospital's Healthy 100 Businesses to help create and promote healthier workplaces.

Resources and a community of like-minded employers exist to help you create a healthier organization. For more information, visit Work Well Winter Park at http://workwellwinterpark.org/ or email Florida Hospital for more information at FH.CP@FLHosp.org. Below are a few healthy offerings that take place weekly and monthly at Work Well Winter Park:

Health Education Series – Every Second Wednesday

  • A lunch & learn series offering education in nutrition, physical activity and stress management
  • Free admission and a healthy lunch for all Work Well Winter Park participating companies; $5 per person for non participants; RSVP required
  • Second Wednesday of every month from 11:45-1:00 p.m. at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce
  • Sponsored by Whole Foods Market and Florida Hospital

Weekly Walks

  • Get a fresh start to your morning by taking a 30 minute walk once a week
  • Great for networking and getting exercise
  • Join a group every Thursday at 8:00 a.m and Friday at 10 a.m. for walk and talks around town - leave from the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.

 

Work Well Winter Park

The Winter Park Chamber of Commerce was awarded a generous grant by the Winter Park Health Foundation to develop and launch Work Well Winter Park, a movement designed to improve the health and wellbeing of the workforce in our community by creating lasting, cultural change. This collaborative and easily implemented initiative will encourage employers in Winter Park to adopt and implement practical policies supporting workplace wellness.

Through its mission, Work Well Winter Park will focus on the following areas:

  • Increasing employee health awareness and access
  • Increasing physical activity
  • Improving employee nutrition and nutrition habits
  • Improving employee stress management skills
  • Reducing tobacco use

"Although very innovative, this initiative is also incredibly easy," said Patrick Chapin, President/CEO of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. "We have taken the first steps toward wellness at our own office and have already begun to energize and motivate the Chamber staff towards the goal of healthier, more productive workdays."

Community partners such as the American Heart Association, City of Winter Park, Florida Blue, Florida Hospital, Healthy Central Florida, Whole Foods Market and the YMCA of Central Florida are all on board to help support, complement and reinforce this practical approach to positive and healthy policy changes.

Work Well Winter Park officially kicked off on National Start Walking Day.  Over 200 people joined the Winter Park Chamber on April 4th for the beginning of a new chapter in corporate health and wellness. For more information on Work Well Winter Park and their free resources for companies, regardless of location, please visit www.workwellwinterpark.org.

 

The City of Winter Park Is Recognized as One of

Central Florida's Healthiest Employers

The City of Winter Park, one of the Orlando Business Journal's Central Florida's Healthiest Employers, 2011, was acknowledged for the city's ongoing efforts to encourage, sustain and increase the overall health of its employees.

The benefits the City offers include:

  • Having an annual health fair which offers blood tests, blood pressure tests, health vendor information, and the opportunity to update medical records
  • A produce vendor which visits city offices with fresh fruits and vegetables
  • Classes in yoga, jazzercise and taekwondo
  • One-on-one meetings, and group classes with a Health Action Nurse who discusses medical test results, chronic diseases, diet, cancer, hypertension, and how to make changes
  • A new prescription program which makes prescription drugs for chronic illnesses more affordable
  • A workplace Weight Watchers Program
  • An Employee Assistance Program which offers free counseling, group sessions on various topics, as well as financial and legal counseling

While winning the title is an honor, City Manager Randy Knight says "The true reward is having a healthy and strong workforce." He also credits the employees with doing their part to make the City of Winter Park one of Central Florida's healthiest workplaces.