Desert Health^® Wellness Award winner, HARC (Health Assessment Resource Center), conducted their own awards celebration this year for wellness in the workplace.

The first annual Coachella Valley Workplace Wellness Awards took place on June 7 as part of June’s Employee Well-Being Month, a nationally-recognized celebration of wellness in the workplace. Twenty organizations representing a wide range of industries across the Coachella Valley applied for the HARC awards.

HARC won the 2016 Desert Health^® Wellness Award for their significant work in collecting data on the health of our community that continues to assist organizations within the health care industry to plan, fund, and implement programs. Their awards recognized winners in three subcategories: Nutrition/Fitness/Health Screenings; Safety/Ergonomics; and Mental Health/Well-Being. Overall grand prize winners excelling in all three subcategories were honored in both the large and small organization categories.

The aim of the awards is to highlight the efforts of exemplary workplaces that prioritize employee health and well-being, and to inspire others to start similar initiatives, says HARC, which views workplace wellness as a critical component of community health in our valley.

The grand prize winner among small organizations (fewer than 100 employees) was Cielo Vista Charter School, and Desert Oasis Healthcare/Family Hospice Care (DOHC/FHC) took the honors among large organizations (over 101 employees). Both organizations have incredibly comprehensive workplace wellness programs that create a healthy, productive work environment.

Cielo Vista Charter School credits their programs for maintaining high morale and low turnover. When asked about their wellness program, Desert Oasis Healthcare/Family Hospice Care stated, “DOHC/FHC is taking active steps to become the premier employer in the Coachella Valley. The Employee Success Program is a fundamental pillar to achieving this goal.”

Additional winners included:

Nutrition, Fitness, Health Screenings

Riverside County Department of Child Support Services (small organization)
Desert Arc (large organization)

Safety and Ergonomics

MSA Consulting (small organization)
Eisenhower Medical Center (large organization)

Mental Health and Well-being

City of Indian Wells (small organization)
Renova Solar (large organization)

KMIR’s Janet Zappala hosted the awards luncheon which took place on the UC Riverside Palm Desert campus. The second annual Coachella Valley Workplace Wellness Awards will be held in June 2017.

For more information contact HARC at (760) 404.1945 or visit www.HARCdata.org.