Although there may not be complete consensus on paid sick leave, I think we can all agree that we would like to reduce the amount of illness in the workplace. With this in mind, I wanted to share a great resource for staying well that I just learned about from members of the Oregon Coalition of Health Care Purchasers, an organization that is comprised of both private and public sector employers: wellness@work.

Spearheaded by the Oregon Public Health Institute, the wellness@work campaign offers tools for creating workplaces that support a culture of wellness. The initiative prioritizes healthy eating and fitness, offers health screenings to catch potential problems early, helps employees manage chronic health conditions, and provides resources to help establish a tobacco free culture within the workplace.

As I’ve written before, health care is an economic development issue. Rising health care costs are a burden on businesses, government, workers, and families, and reducing those costs – or even just reducing the pace of the increase – would be a boon to Portland’s economy and create jobs.

Although wellness@work is designed to help employers support wellness in their workplaces, all of us can find great ideas and inspiration on this site for staying healthy. As a first step, I encourage you to check out the success stories for some inspiration.