The Tribune

A long line snaked downstairs through a corridor of the Coral Towers at Atlantis, Paradise Island as the company’s staff waited to have their biometric screenings done so they could ‘know their numbers’.

One by one, they had their height and weight checked, their Body Mass Index calculated and their blood pressure, and glucose and cholesterol levels checked.

With that information in hand, they then visited with Doctors Hospital’s Health System Clinical Corporate Wellness Team to learn what they needed to do to get healthier.

For seven days, Atlantis Paradise Island Management in partnership with Doctors Hospital and Bahamas Medical Centre provided the company’s employees with free health screenings and health education.

With chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension and diabetes running rampant in the Bahamian community today, Doctors Hospital Health System is taking the lead on promoting prevention; “Knowing your numbers being the first step and knowing what to do with that information being the crucial next step”.

“What we want to do is set up a situation where people have the opportunity to get the help and guidance they need during the process, in order to get healthy by knowing their critical numbers and starting a program to get their numbers into the healthy rage, including losing any excess weight,” said Barry Rassin, President of Doctors Hospital Health System.

“Turning to a big organisation like Atlantis, it’s a microcosm of our country. Everybody gets a thorough health assessment now, and working with the Atlantis management over the next 12 months, we will help the individuals who are at high risk to get healthy again. We are really trying to make an impact on our country to start going the right direction in order to get people healthy. Being a hospital, people might think that we would benefit from an unhealthy nation, but what we really want is for people to focus on the fitness side of our business aside from the sickness side of our business.”

Striving for a healthier Bahamas is not only beneficial for the employees who got the opportunity to get the information they need to get healthier and the guidance they need in order to stay healthy, but also beneficial for Atlantis as the employer of this large group of employees.

Aisha Neely, Health and Safety Director at Atlantis, Paradise Island coordinated the project together with Doctors Hospital and understands the benefits to the individuals as well as to the corporation.

“It’s important for us to impact not only our business operation, but also our colleagues. This initiative ensures that employees receive the necessary information and services that will improve their lifestyles. It was designed to assist employees to choose healthier behaviours, create general health awareness and provide employees with the opportunities to adopt lifestyles that not only lengthen their lives but improve their happiness and productivity. Throughout the upcoming year, we look forward to continuing our efforts and partnership to assist our colleagues who were at high risk to reduce their numbers and for those who did not need to get them reduced, they would have been able to maintain a good health status” she said.

“Partnering with the medical professionals from Doctors Hospital to offer our colleagues complimentary state-of-the-art testing to know their numbers was extremely gratifying to them and they took full advantage of the opportunity. It is important for us to continue to educate our colleagues around the topic of health and wellness. Our goal is to develop a long-term, sustainable wellness program that will produce positive results so that all of us can live long healthy lives, free of chronic diseases,” said Ms Neely.

The Doctors Hospital Health System Corporate Wellness Program provides biometric screening for companies of all sizes. Once the screenings are complete, the employees get their individual results, and the company gets an overview of the general health of their group of employees. Once the key areas of concern have been identified, the Corporate Wellness Team, based at Bahamas Medical Centre on Blake Road works with the company to offer education programs targeted to their employee’s known needs. Medical Fitness at Bahamas Medical Centre offers tailor-made programs aiming to help individuals embrace a healthy lifestyle and achieve their health and weight loss goals.

Doctors Hospital Health System also tailors annual physical packages to ensure employee groups get as much benefit out of their insurance plan’s preventive care allowance.

To learn more about the Doctors Hospital Health System Corporate Wellness Program visit www.GetHealthyBahamas.com or call 327-5081.