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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 F E B R UA R Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 6 coaching focus and really took off with the opening of the new hospital two years ago. Built into the new hospital's design are stations where employees can take their blood pressure or weigh themselves. ere's a teaching kitchen where employees and the general public can learn how to improve their diets. Employees participating in the voluntary wellness program get the benefi t of one-on-one sessions with health coaches. rough Virgin Pulse, a division of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, employees are off ered a free bracelet that monitors how many steps they take each day and encourages greater mindfulness about being physically active. "We have big 'carrots,'" Dumont-Bernier says, not- ing that MaineGeneral's voluntary program provides incentives to encourage people to attain their health goals. "We want people to be engaged in their wellness. I think the health-coaching piece is the foundation of the program. Changing lifestyle habits is hard." It's not a given that all employees will embrace wellness goals, Hays adds, half-joking that when MaineGeneral removed the fryolator from its kitchen he didn't relish going into the hospital's caf- eteria, knowing that some employees weren't happy about the elimination of fried foods from the menu. He was grateful there was less of an outcry when soft drinks were later removed from the cafeteria. "It gets easier when people begin to see the ben- efi ts to their overall health," he says. J MC, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at @ . and @ JM At AAA Energy Service, we understand how important it is to have reliable and cost eective HVAC & R systems that keep your equipment at peak performance, and your customers and employees comfortable. To learn more call 207.883.1473 or email info@aaaenergy.com AAAENERGY.COM Building eciency It's what we do HEATING AIR CONDITIONING REFRIGERATION MAINTENANCE DESIGN/BUILD When it comes to maintaining health, you're on top of it. When it comes to keeping legal issues at bay—in your business or personal life—we're on top of it. You can trust our focus on results. And by volunteering with over 25 nonprofi t organizations, we do our part to keep our communities healthy. nhdlaw.com • Portland (207) 774-7000 • Lewiston (207) 777-5200 M ichael Tardiff, a member of the family that pur- chased J.S. McCarthy Printers in 2000, doesn't need a strong sales pitch to be convinced that invest- ing in workplace health and the wellness of the com- pany's employees is good for the business. He's got the numbers to show for it. "When other companies are seeing 15% to 20% rate increases in their health insurance year after year, we've been able to keep it stable for six years," he says. "That meant we were able to keep our employ- ee's share of health insurance the same … We've been able to maintain a pretty stable health history. That's a big piece of it. If we can maintain a fl at claims experience that really is money in the bank." Tardiff credits MaineGeneral's Workplace Health department as a key ally in the company's commit- ment to helping its 215 employees (175 in Maine) stay healthy and injury-free at its six locations in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. Most employees work at the J.S. McCarthy printing plant at 15 Darin Drive in Augusta, a short drive from MaineGeneral and Interstate 95. Tardiff says his family sees the workplace wellness program as a key way of keeping the company's tal- ented workforce healthy, happy and inclined to stay on. "We started our wellness program about 12 years ago," he says, noting that Martin's Point provided that service until about fi ve or six years ago, when the company shifted to MaineGeneral's Workplace Health program. The services provided range from employment physi- cals to health coaching provided by MaineGeneral's Kristen Easter, who spends 24 hours a month at the printing plant meeting one-on-one with employees to help them with personal health goals such as losing weight or quitting smoking or work-related ergonomic issues. "We focus on what they want to work on," she says. "It's different for everyone. It's based on what they're working on. The big thing for me is building that rapport and seeing the good health habits develop over time." Nutrition is probably the No. 1 healthy lifestyle challenge Easter sees among the workers she's coach- ing, closely followed by fi nding ways to increase their physical activity. When top management supports those goals, as she's found at J.S. McCarthy Printers, Easter says it tends to create "a culture of people around you supporting" those goals. In addition to stabilizing the company's health insur- ance costs, Tardiff says MaineGeneral's Workplace Health program has had tangible benefi ts for workers that go beyond numbers on a spreadsheet. One worker, he says, successfully quit smoking and purchased a motorcycle with money he had saved from kicking the habit. Another worker had been encouraged to see their family doctor for a nagging health problem and was diagnosed as having an early-stage cancer. That person, he says, "is still working and doing great." Several others are now running half-marathons. "It's a completely worthwhile expense," he says. "If it wasn't, as a business we wouldn't be doing it." Focus on employee wellness pays off for J.S. McCarthy

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