By Jaclyn Seebsitt
The month of August was a month of health and wellness for the Annapolis and Marlow Heights Medical Centers. Marlow Heights hosted a healthy dessert event combined with a People Pulse kickoff on August 31, and Annapolis focused the entire month of August on healthy eating and activity, with several events throughout the month. Read more about each of the centers’ events and check out the photos below.
Marlow Heights: Healthy Desserts
On August 31, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., more than 50 employees and physicians participated in a healthy dessert event led by Live Well Be Well site team members Dawn Anderson and Robin Taylor. The healthy desserts featured were low sugar and low carb yogurt and fruit bars. The team also coordinated their event to coincide with the center’s People Pulse kickoff, which included posters and games, such as “Name the Executive.”
The team had also researched several other recipes for smoothies and other healthy desserts and had them available for participants to take with them. “They went off the table like hot cakes,” said Linda Buchanan, Site Team Lead and Medical Center Administrative Manager.
Overall, the event was a great success and a shining example of how our employees and physicians are working together to help each other live well and be well. “Our team works really well together and each event is sponsored by 1-2 team members, but everyone contributes,” Buchanan said. “The Marlow Heights team appreciates when we can extend the hours because the lunches range from 11 to 2.” Check out a few photos from the event below.
Annapolis: Healthy Eating and Activity Double Dipper
For the entire month of August, Annapolis employees and physicians were dedicated to both healthy eating and physical activity with their “Double Dipper” event. The idea came to be when two employees proposed the idea to the Live Well Be Well Site Team, and they decided to spearhead healthy eating and exercise activities for a month and engage all employees. Each week featured a different event, such as a buddy walk, healthy salad, fruit salad, and healthy tacos.
The main goals of the program were to instill healthy eating and activities into our lifestyle, and so far, they’ve had great success! “If you go into lunch room, you see more salads and fruit instead of cookies, cheesecake, etc.,” said Live Well Be Well Site Team member Kathleen Fitzpatrick. To end the event on a fun and healthy note, the team ordered orange peelers from the Brand Store and gave them away with an orange.
Annapolis has also hosted several other health and wellness initiatives, including a stress buster initiative in which the team brought in adult coloring books, crayons and pencils, and jigsaw puzzles in staff break rooms. The puzzles and coloring books were a welcome surprise to employees looking to take a quick wellness break at work, Fitzpatrick said. The LWBW Site Team is always looking for new ways to engage the center’s 31 employees and physicians and will continue to listen to their needs to plan future events. Take a look at some photos below from the Double Dipper events.
