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Clinic`s wellness officer, Dr. Michael Roizen, has healthy message The Plain Dealer
January 01, 2008
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Plain Dealer Reporter
Looking to get healthier in the new year? The Cleveland Clinic wants to help. As a regular on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and co-author of the best-selling "You" books, the Clinic`s Dr. Michael Roizen has earned national fame as a health guru.
Now, in his latest role, Roizen is charged with taking his message of health to the Clinic`s employees, patients and the Greater Cleveland community.
Roizen, 61, was named the Clinic`s chief wellness officer six months ago and has been planning initiatives for 2008, including launching a farmer`s market near the system`s main campus this summer and reaching into the local school system to mentor kids.
He also hopes to offer programs for residents who want to stop smoking or lose weight. "If we`re in health care, we shouldn`t be just developing the best illness care in the world but we really have to be walking the walk and talking the talk," Roizen said.
The importance of Roizen`s position, a top executive spot created by Clinic Chief Executive Toby Cosgrove, is unusual in the corporate world and demonstrates how serious the hospital system considers the task of helping people become healthy.
Laura Brownlee, member-services team leader of the nation`s oldest wellness organization, the National Wellness Institute in Stevens Point, Wis., said she has never heard of a wellness executive with such a vaunted position.
"It`s very rare if it`s ever happened before, ever," she said. While the wellness movement has been around for decades, aging baby boomers and skyrocketing corporate health-care costs have suddenly made the term and its mission more mainstream. Wellness means simply helping people live longer, happier lives, said Brownlee, whose organization began in the late 1970s and has 1,500 members. To read full article, click here. © The Plain Dealer
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