Productivity losses related to personal and family health problems cost U.S. employers more than $225 billion every year.

That staggering number was delivered to Kingfisher Rotarians last Tuesday by Lydia Hutchison.

Hutchison was the featured speaker at last week’s meeting of the local civic group. She is the coordinator for Work@Health, which is a program of the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

In an effort to minimize health-related costs, Hutchison said the Department of Health is currently seeking public and private businesses and organizations to participate in Work@Health, a no-cost employer-training program to help build and maintain effective workplace wellness programs.

She said Work@Health is a free training program available to employers with 20 or more employees to improve worksite wellness with strategies to reduce chronic disease and injury risk to employees.

Founded in 2014 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Work@Health program provides employer education, training and ongoing technical assistance to reduce health care costs and increase worker productivity.

Hutchison told Rotarians and guests that her staff is now available to help all Kingfisher area businesses and invited them to contact her office in Enid, or to simply contact the Kingfisher County Health Department staff to arrange a meeting to get started.

Her appearance was arranged by Rotarian Darcy Reherman with assistance from Blair Coughlan, community engagement and health planning manager at the Kingfisher County Health Department.