

Abbeville General Designated a
WellSpot by Louisiana Health Department
Louisiana is
internationally renowned for its music, culture, cuisine and celebrations held
throughout the state each year. Louisiana is also well known for its unhealthy
lifestyle choices that cause our residents to lead the nation in statistics for
obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and other potentially preventable
chronic diseases. Improving our wellbeing, though, doesn’t have to mean giving
up our favorite things like good food, great music and legendary festivals.
Rather, it means making smart choices so we can enjoy our favorite things even
longer.
Chronic
disease cost Louisiana a total of $4.5 billion in 2003. Additionally, the
economic loss caused by sick days and reduced productivity was $17.4 billion
alone in Louisiana in the same time period. If we made smarter choices together
to improve our wellbeing, we could increase Louisiana’s economic output by $62
billion by 2050. Each of us can make small choices every day such as eating
healthy, increasing physical activity, or living a tobacco-free lifestyle that
will allow us the opportunity for balance. This balance will afford us the
chance to feel a little better and the chance to enjoy life a little longer.
Well-Ahead Louisiana
is an initiative started by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
aimed at improving the health and wellness of Louisiana citizens. Well-Ahead
Louisiana promotes and recognizes smart choices in the spaces and places we
live and work every day that make it easier for us all to live healthier lives,
from going tobacco-free to ensuring healthy lunch options or supporting
workplace fitness programs.
Well-Ahead
promotes voluntary changes that places in Louisiana can adopt in order to help
Louisiana citizens make choices that contribute to a healthier lifestyle. This
is about Louisiana’s people, leaders, businesses and organizations taking
action because it is the right – and healthy – thing to do.
Part of the
Well-Ahead Louisiana campaign is the designation of places and spaces that have
decided to encourage our citizens to make choices and changes to our lifestyle
so it will be easier for Louisiana citizens to live well. Once designated,
these environments are called WellSpots.
A WellSpot
is a place, space or organization in Louisiana that has implemented voluntary,
smart changes to make healthier living easier for Louisiana citizens. An
organization becomes a WellSpot by meeting wellness benchmarks that correspond
to its organization type.
Once a
certain number of benchmarks has been met, the Department of Health and
Hospitals will recognize the organization as an official WellSpot. There are
three levels of WellSpots, with Level One being the highest level of
achievement.
Abbeville General was recently designated a Level Two
WellSpot by Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals for its commitment
to making healthy choices easier. WellSpots are organizations or companies that
have made small, sustainable changes toward improving health and wellness.
Well-Ahead
Louisiana, the first voluntary designation program of its kind in the state,
encourages organizations and individuals to make small healthy lifestyle
changes to spaces where Louisiana residents spend most of their time.
Well-Ahead was launched in early 2014 and has designated WellSpots in every
parish throughout the state.
According to
Ray Landry, FACHE, Abbeville General
CEO, "The healthy
practices our organization has implemented through our WellSpot designation
help our team make smart choices an easier part of living, working and playing
in Louisiana.”
The
representative from DHH adds, "The Louisiana Department of Health commends Abbeville General Hospital for
implementing changes to become a Level 2 WellSpot. Hospitals have a unique
opportunity to impact the health of both their employees and
patients.Tobacco-free policies and worksite wellness programs are great
practices that help move Louisiana’s health forward. LDH is proud to recognize Abbeville General Hospital as a leader
in Louisiana’s health initiatives.” – Melissa Martin, Director of the Bureau
of Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion
Abbeville
General completed several benchmarks to earn its designation, including:
· Tobacco-free policy on each of its
campuses,
· Breastfeeding friendly policies,
· Worksite wellness programs, and
· Consistent health messaging.
For more information on the Well Ahead Louisiana initiative
and resources available, please visit www.WellAheadLA.com.