In a continuing effort to improve the health and overall well-being of its employees, 12 Savannah Business Group member companies, in conjunction with St. Joseph’s/ Candler Health System, INTER_xVENT ^USA and the Institute for Health and Productivity Management and its funding sources, have formed an employee wellness outreach program.  The new program is expected to impact the lives of more than 5,500 individuals of the local workforce.

The new wellness program, called SBG-I-CARE which stands for Savannah Business Group - INTER_xVENT - Cardiovascular Atherosclerosis Risk Reduction for Employees, will help identify the employees at risk for cardiovascular diseases and work with them on a one-to-one basis to lower their risk.

Further the program goals include quantifiably improving the quality of life of participating employees, reducing employers’ health care costs for cardiovascular disease, and reducing lost work time, thereby increasing productivity.

“Cardiovascular disease is responsible for 42% of all deaths in this country, and studies indicate that residents of this geographic area have a higher percentage of heart disease risk factors,” said Neil F. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director of the Center for Heart Disease Prevention at St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System and INTER_xVENT ^USA .  “By providing a program that has been scientifically proven to modify lifestyles and qualtifiably reduce these risk factors, we feel we are creating a win-win situation for the individual employee and the business community,” he added.

Savannah Business Group President, Ron Kronowitz, concurs, stating that “in order for business to remain healthy, we must address the health of our employee.  We cannot maintain a healthy business environment with an unhealthy workforce.  We believe the implementation of this innovative program will go a long way in preventing some catastrophic illnesses while promoting the overall wellness of the employees in our workforce.”

“We adopted this program last year for our own employees to improve their overall health and well being,” said Paul P. Hinchey, President and CEO of the Health System.  “As a healthcare organization whose mission is to treat illness and promote wellness, we found that this prevention program not only made a very strong impact towards fulfilling our organizational mission, it made dramatic progress in improving our employees’ health.”

Health System employees who participated in the wellness program last year significantly reduced pertinent risk factors for heart attacks and strokes.  Some preliminary results from the first year of data shows dramatic reductions in blood pressure, improvements in cholesterol levels and an increase in overall wellness.

Member companies of SBG participating in the new SBG-I-CARE Program include Brasseler USA, Carson Products, the Chatham County Government, Chatham Service Bureau, Chatham Steel, Colonial Oil, Critz Inc., Fugi Vegetable Oil, Inc., Georgia Ports Authority, P & L Transportation, City of Savannah and The Savannah Bank.

The Institute for Health & Productivity Management is a national nonprofit corporation created to document and promote the vital relationship of employee health to workplace productivity and corporate performance.