Cleveland Clinic joins with Weight Watchers

Employees will have access to weight management programs at no cost.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Clinic doesn’t hire smokers or allow trans-fats on its menus. Now it’s hooking up with a nationally known weight control program to help its employees shape up and slim down.

The clinic, highly regarded for its cardiac care, will offer Weight Watchers programs at no cost to any employee enrolled in the clinic’s in-house health plan, which covers more than 27,000 of the clinic’s 37,000 employees.

“The goal is to help our employees get healthier if they want to. ... When our employees feel healthier and are healthier, they’re able to take care of patients better,” said Dr. Michael F. Roizen, chief wellness officer for Cleveland Clinic. “Health care organization ought to stand for health. We ought to be one of those taking the leading in making America and northeast Ohio more competitive.”

Roizen said the clinic is doing what it can to reduce the barriers of cost and inconvenience. Employees will have access to weight management programs, fitness centers and smoking cessation programs at no cost.

The clinic banned smoking on campus in July 2005, and stopped hiring smokers last September. It banned trans-fats from the clinic’s patient menus, cafeterias, restaurants, pharmacies and vending machines — along with sugar-sweetened beverages — earlier last year.

It also pushed a private vendor, who operates a McDonald’s franchise in public space leased from the clinic, to add healthy choices to its menu.

“We are excited by this collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, a world-renowned health care institution and leader in health and wellness education,” said David Kirchhoff, president and chief executive officer of Weight Watchers International. “Together, we are working to empower their employees to lose weight and improve their overall health. It is encouraging to see such a commitment to employee well-being at an organization with their reputation and we hope that it sets the bar for fellow employers.”

Cleveland Clinic began offering employee-focused wellness programs when it established its Wellness Institute almost two years ago. The Weight Watchers plan could be expanded to include spouses and dependents of health plan employees, and to nonplan employees, officials said.

The new program will be launched in three phases. The quit smoking program will start July 1, the weight management program Aug. 1 and access to fitness centers on Nov. 1.

Cleveland Clinic has about 1,800 full-time salaried physicians and researchers at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida, in more than 100 medical specialties.

Weight Watchers International provides weight management services, including food products and support meetings where members can learn about healthy eating patterns, behavior modification and physical activity.