CDC features Garver wellness program
NORMAN — Randell Marsee was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” He set a New Year’s resolution two years ago to lose 20 pounds in four months. Instead, Marsee dropped 44 pounds and four inches from his waistline — thanks largely to a wellness program offered by his employer, Little Rockbased Garver engineering and consulting firm, and showcased last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Because of the program, Garver’s 500-plus employees, who work from 27 offices across 11 states, have 33 percent less hypertension than the national average, 50 percent less back pain and 40 percent less diabetes, according to a case study published on the CDC’s workplace health promotion website.
Before his weight loss, Marsee took three different drugs for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Today, he’s drug-free
“I’m back to climbing 200-foot water towers again, riding motorcycles and horses, and doing things I haven’t done in years,” said Marsee, a 40-year-old senior construction observer for Garver, who inspects various projects across Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Working on the road was a big part of the problem for Marsee; that and a serious spinal cord injury suffered in a race car accident that sidelined him for six months.
“I got up to 261 pounds— the most I’ve ever weighed — and was fat and embarrassed,” he said.
Marsee lost the weight by moving more, eating less and adhering to a low carbohydrate, high-protein diet, he said. Garver’s wellness team members helped him set a plan for healthy living on the road. Instead of eating out, he now takes his travel trailer and hibachi grill, and cooks prepared meat and veggies he can eat on the go, along with blueberries and strawberries.
When he is in the office, Marsee embraces the wellness team’s quarterly wellness challenges and daily livestreaming workouts from climbing office stairs to doing squats and lunges at his desk. Last year, he finished No. 10 in wellness points, earning him bragging rights companywide.
“Garver Wellness helps keep health care claims lower than the national average, allowing the company to offer quality care to our employees and their families,” said wellness team manager Sarah Palmiero.
Since its inception in 2006, the program has evolved from solely a physical fitness program to a program of overall wellbeing, including financial, mental, occupational, physical and social wellness, Palmiero said.
Along with providing on-site exercise facilities, paying half of gym memberships and offering all employees the option of standing desks, Garver provides visiting chaplain and employee assistance programs to meet employees’ psychological and emotional needs, as well as an internally built customizable wellness portal that contains biometric outcome data, healthy recipes, webinars, exercise videos, finance workshops and professional development content.
"We believe that a strong company isn't just made up of talented employees, but by talented employees who have balance in their daily lives," Palmiero said.
To encourage participation, Garver offers a points system so employees can earn both insurance premium discounts and cash up to $470.
Employees can obtain discounts that amount to no cost for individual coverage or a 30 percent discount toward family coverage just by completing a health questionnaire and in-house biometric screening and earning at least 100 wellness points by participating in a smorgasbord of activities — from simply setting personal health goals with a Garver dietitian (20 points), volunteering in the community and donating blood (30 points each) to competing in running and cycling events (100 points), taking financial workshops (45 points), reading personal development books (14 points) and more.
Every point over 100 turns into $1 earned — and most importantly, better overall health.