Rutland Regional Recognized for Employee Wellness Efforts
Rutland Regional Medical Center’s Employee Wellness Program was recently recognized with the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Worksite Wellness. Rutland Regional was one of over 70 Vermont employers recognized for their innovative employee wellness initiatives during the past year.
The virtual ceremony took place on April 8 and included a message from Governor Scott as well as breakout sessions for awardees where they were able to share some of the successes and challenges of the past year.
“It was great to connect with other businesses across the state and to hear what they’ve been doing,” said Emily Feinberg, PA-C, Director of the Employee Wellness Center. “It certainly has been a challenging year to ‘connect’ with folks, but we have a great workforce and we have been able to find ways to stay connected and encourage each other.”
Some of the wellness programs over this past year included the Come Alive Outside Winter Wellness Passport, free snowshoe loans, free Yaktrax's, Mountaintop Inn Trail passes, and continued membership with Rutland Wellness Co-op (a group of people from large companies in the area focused on wellness).
“We are definitely looking forward to the days when the pandemic is over and we can get back to normal,” said Emily. “We are already working on reinventing and revamping our offerings for Employee Wellness.”
Employee Wellness will continue to support and encourage group hikes and other healthy outdoor challenges to help keep staff connected and improve positivity.
“Hospital leadership continues to be impressed by and proud of the resiliency and connectedness by hospital staff, especially during the trying times of the past 14 months or so,” said Brian Kerns, Vice President of Human resources. “We have a terrific team here and our culture is one of support and encouragement. We recognize that we deliver the best care to our patients when we are taking the best care of ourselves. Finding that work/life balance is a continuous improvement exercise but so very important, and our Employee Wellness team is there to help.”
About the Award
The Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in Worksite Wellness was developed by the Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports more 20 years ago and presented in partnership with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) to employers across the state to create a standard of excellence for worksite wellness initiatives. These annual honors provide an opportunity for the governor and health commissioner to thank businesses and organizations for their efforts to support the health of Vermonters and make Vermont a great place to live and work.
