Georgia to Receive Grant as a Healthy State

Georgia to Receive Grant as a Healthy State

NGA Grant to be Spent to Improve Workplace Wellness in the School System

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Georgia is the recipient of a $100,000 grant from the National Governors Association (NGA) to develop a worksite wellness initiative targeting Georgia’s K-12 school system employees. As one of 13 states to receive the Healthy States grant, Georgia will use these funds to complement its worksite wellness initiative, through the Live Healthy Georgia Learning Laboratory Project (LHG-LLP), which is a partnership of the Governor’s Office, the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR), the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) and UnitedHealthcare.

“Approximately 59 percent of all Georgians are overweight or obese. As part of the Live Healthy Georgia campaign, we are encouraging all Georgians to Be Active and Eat Healthy,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “This grant recognizes the work we are doing to improve the health of our employees and their families, and will allow us to expand the work of the Live Healthy Georgia campaign to school system employees.”

School systems in Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Gainesville, Macon and Savannah will be eligible for the worksite wellness program, because these cities were identified by the Live Healthy Georgia program as areas with higher than average rates of obesity. Planning will begin in September and the worksite wellness initiative should be implemented in the school systems by fall 2007.

“State employees, including school system employees, make up a significant part of Georgia’s working population,” said Dr. Rhonda Medows, DCH commissioner. “By promoting wellness where we live, work and learn, state employees can become the example of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Information and data gained from state employees will help create the Learning Laboratories which is the basis for this Georgia initiative.”

According to the Georgia Hospital Association’s Hospital Discharge Survey, in 2003 Georgia hospitals charged $542 million to treat conditions due to a lack of physical activity.

“When employees are healthy everyone wins — the individual, families, our institutions, and the state of Georgia. It’s the right business and citizenship decision for UnitedHealthcare to support the Live Healthy Georgia Learning Laboratory Project,” according to Dan Ohman, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Georgia.

The following states are also receiving the NGA Healthy States grants: Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

The Live Healthy Georgia campaign was designed to provide Georgians with information about simple ways to live healthier and reduce their risk of developing chronic and other diseases. The messages of the campaign are: Eat Healthy, Be Active, Be Smoke Free, Get Checked and Be Positive. For more information about the Live Healthy Georgia campaign visitwww.livehealthygeorgia.org.

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