Survey: Program a 'WIN'

The director of the Wellness IN Schools program gave a report of the inaugural year to the Jay County Hospital Board of Trustees Wednesday, sharing that the program made some improvements in health attitudes of high school freshmen.

JCH community health educator Carrie Wilcox recapped the WINS program, which involved weekly sessions with students in the Jay County High School Freshman Academy, and reported that a student survey showed small improvements in making healthy decisions.

"We surveyed the students before the WINS program and again after," Wilcox explained as she presented her results.

A total of 83 percent of freshmen reported exercising two to three times a week before WINS, a number which increased to 90 percent in the exit survey; 43 percent drank two or more cans of pop a day previously, which decreased to 41 percent after; and 64 percent ate fast food at least twice in an average week, decreasing to 59 percent after WINS.

Wilcox reported that only 64 percent of students ate fruits and vegetables daily, a number that went unchanged after the second-semester program.

"To me, that's sad that a little over half are eating fruits and vegetables every day," she said.

The program also changed student perceptions of what's healthy, as 33 percent thought they could eat a healthy school meal, a figure that dropped to 30 percent afterward.

The exit interview revealed that 55 percent of students said they made at least one healthy lifestyle change due to the WINS program.

"This really was the determining factor of whether the program was successful," Wilcox said.

In January, Wilcox told The Commercial Review that any positive change in attitude would be a success for the program.

In free response sections of the survey, students reported that after WINS they were making healthier food choices, drinking less pop, avoiding texting while driving and becoming more physically active.

Students enjoyed the educational films, exercise programs with Shaun Roberts from Patriot Fitness, portion-size education, taste tests of healthy foods, speaker Zonya Foco and, naturally, having time out of normal classes.

Wilcox said next year the program may reflect attitudes of what this year's students wanted to see more of, including sessions covering relationship issues, losing weight, eating disorders and bullying.

She reported that JCH staff had plenty of feedback about the program and several suggestions for next year.

"The comments were all very, very positive," she said. "They felt the students really enjoyed the program and learned a lot."

JCH CEO Joe Johnston hailed the work Wilcox put in as well as the support received from Jay Schools.

"We really have strong support from the administration," he said.

Johnston said he had been in talked with Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome and that the school corporation may help to fund the WINS program in the future.

In other business Wedensday, the hospital board:

•Heard the auxiliary report from president Marilyn Post. In May, 80 auxiliary members volunteered 1,100 hours of work.

•Heard the financial report from chief financial officer Don Michael. Departmental volumes fell below expected values in all departments except lab and the hospital experienced a net loss of $45,432.

The hospital has a positive yearly income of about $618,000, which was bolstered by a government payment from Medicare coverage.

•Approved a contract with Kamp Medical for online payment services on the JCH Web site at a cost of 45 cents per transaction.

•Approved payment of 1,041 checks and disbursements totaling $1,525,764.65.

•Approved an agreement with CorePoint Health for integration software at a cost of $35,000 and $7,000 per month for maintenance. The software will allow lab equipment to communicate with the Meditech electronic medical records system being implemented at the hospital.

•Approved a contract with Nutritional Services Inc. to provide dietician coverage for 12 hours per week for 12 weeks at a cost of $45 per hour. The hospital's dietician will be out of work during that period on maternity leave.

•Approved purchase of four GE Medical cardiac monitors at a cost of $58,273.05.

•Approved contract with Medical Protective Company for hospital and physician medical malpractice insurance at a cost of $233,456. That package is a savings of about $79,000 per year.

•Approved contract with Press Ganey to provide medical practice patient satisfaction services at a cost of $11,647.50.

•Approved eight appointments and reappointments to the hospital's active and courtesy staffs.

•Approved new clinical privileging procedures for four medical specialties including radiology, family medicine, emergency room and advanced nurse practitioner.

•Approved purchase of equipment and training for a non-invasive endogastric procedure to treat gastric reflux at a cost of $21,000. The purchase was approved pending financial review by Michael.

•Retained current officers for the 2010-2011 year: David Littler, chairman, John Nill, vice-chairman, Debbie Kummer, secretary, Michael, treasurer, and Lynn Hampson, vice-treasurer.[[In-content Ad]]