The Association County Commissioners of Georgia recently awarded Liberty County a $6,000 Health Promotion and Wellness grant.
Liberty County is eligible for the grant based on its participation in the ACCG’s Group Health Benefits Program. Laura Troutman, Liberty County’s human-resources specialist and health-promotion leader, coordinates the county’s health-and-wellness program.
“We’re very excited because of the amount that we got this year — it’s the most we’ve ever received,” Troutman said. “It’s just going to allow me to do more exciting things.”
Troutman said that the county’s wellness program’s name, L.I.V.E. Well, stands for Liberty Inspires Vibrant Employees. All full-time county employees are eligible to participate in the
program.
“We look at the overall person and their overall well-being, so it takes into account different aspects of a person’s health and wellness,” Troutman explained. “It’s an incentive program throughout the whole year. We have different activities, and employees who participate earn points, and then they can get prizes based on the points.”
Eligible activities include weight-loss challenges, free online wellness classes, smoking-cessation programs, community volunteer work and blood-drive donations.
“A successful wellness program is designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, which helps to control health-care costs and contribute to a happier, more productive workforce,” said Michael Mulcare, president of the ACCG and a Douglas County commissioner. “Wellness programs greatly benefit employees, their families and the employer — everyone benefits.”
According to an ACCG news release, Liberty County is one of 49 members that received a Health Promotion and Wellness grant.
The release also said that a health-promotion Leader must be designated as a part of the grant process — the role filled in Liberty County by Troutman, who oversees the county’s wellness program.
Today’s third round of the Battle of the Badges blood drive represents one opportunity for program participants to earn points. The blood drive is scheduled from
10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the district attorney’s office, 945 E.G. Miles Parkway in Hinesville.