The East Tennessee Wellness Roundtable (ETWR) was formed out of the collaboration and passion for the worksite wellness of several area professionals. In 2006, Gary Emig, Wellness Manager for Cariten Healthcare at the time, began networking with other area organizations to understand their successes, struggles, and opportunities to develop their worksite wellness initiatives.
History
Attending the annual National Wellness Institute’s conference, Gary met pioneers in the field and saw the need to make a formal network of wellness professionals in East Tennessee. Gary began working with Margie Kidd, who was then at Clayton Homes, on bringing together area wellness professionals for the purpose of sharing their current initiatives and addressing barriers to worksite wellness.
The first ETWR meeting was held in May 2007 and was a great success, with over 30 companies represented. Organizations such as Cariten Healthcare, Clayton Homes, Bush Brothers, Covenant Health, UT Medical Center, TeamHealth, and others were pivotal in the early formation of ETWR. With the assistance of the Knox County Health Department, the organizational structure of ETWR has changed from a driven entity to a dedicated Board of Directors composed of wellness professionals from area organizations.
ETWR continues to meet every other month. Presenters speak on a range of health and wellness topics including: their organization’s worksite wellness program, health risk assessments, wellness committee formation, mental health, utilizing healthcare data, prescription drug abuse, nutrition, fitness initiatives and so much more.
As the first worksite wellness organization of this size and purpose in Tennessee, ETWR is a leader in helping area professionals create cultures of wellness at their organizations. With the help of ETWR, all companies that participate can have wellness as an integral aspect of their business.
Be well.