News
Healthy Gains for Sutter Delta’s Biggest Losers
Employees lose 291 pounds during 12-week weight-loss competition.
ANTIOCH, Calif., December 12, 2008 - Since September, 21 of Sutter Delta Medical Center’s (SDMC) employees have worked together to shed pounds and get healthier. Following an initial weigh-in, participants met each week to check in and count the pounds that were lost during the 12-week weight-loss challenge. Through group support and a little friendly competition, the “losers” lost a combined 291 lbs.
“I would bike to work every day,” says 25-year-old contest winner Miguel Angel Torres. “At first, it would take me about 45 minutes, but now I’m down to 30 (minutes).” Torres won the contest by losing an impressive 34.5 lbs in just 12 weeks. That is nearly three pounds every week.
Torres has a toddler at home and says he gained “sympathy” weight during the pregnancy. He says the program provided him the motivation to lose weight that he wasn’t able to get on his own. “Before I would lay on the sofa and watch her play,” Torres says of his daddy-daughter time, “but now I get down on the ground with her and roll and twist and she just laughs!”
The benefits of weight loss to the employees are obvious, but SDMC wins, too.
“Happy employees are generally productive, reliable and carry positive attitudes with them. Someone with a bright smile can keep everyone that he or she interacts with smiling, too,” says Sutter Delta Medical Center CEO Gary Rapaport, who also participated in the challenge. “By encouraging and supporting our employees to live well, we are making an investment in our company’s productivity and customer service.”
SDMC Human Resources Director Christine Green agrees. “When you’re happy where you work you look forward to coming in for the day,” says Green. “You enjoy interacting with the people around you. You get your work done, and then you go home smiling. Helping people lead healthier lives helps them to be happier people, so it just makes sense for an employer to advocate for good health.”
With a slowing economy, increased productivity can limit spending cuts and relieve budget restraints, which can help ensure business continues as usual. Employee wellness programs allow employers to positively impact the health of their employees and maintain morale in the workplace.
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About Sutter Health
Serving patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns, Sutter Health doctors, hospitals and other health care service providers join resources and share expertise to advance health care quality and access. The Sutter Medical Network includes many of California’s top-performing, highest quality physician organizations as measured annually by the Integrated Healthcare Organization. Sutter-affiliated hospitals are regional leaders in cardiac care, women’s and children’s services, cancer care, orthopedics and advanced patient safety technology. For more information about the not-for-profit Sutter Health family, please visit www.sutterhealth.org.
Sutter Delta Medical Center Contact
Angela Juarez-Lombardi
(925) 382-4217 cell
LombaA2@sutterhealth.org
Sutter Health Contact
Brian Hudson
(916) 286-6798 direct
(916) 286-6695 media line
cthudsb@sutterhealth.org