Physio-Control, Inc. in Redmond has been recognized as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company by the American Heart Association‘s Start! initiative for helping employees eat better and move more.

“Physical activity and employee wellness are important priorities at Physio-Control. We are honored and excited to be recognized by the American Heart Association’s Start! movement as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company,” said Physio-Control President Brian Webster. “We’re committed to providing the best workplace environment possible. This will benefit our employees’ health and produce even more positive results for our company overall.”

As a platinum-level company, Physio-Control offers its employees physical activity options and more healthy eating options in the workplace. The Redmond company also promotes a wellness culture in the workplace and implements at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association (AHA) in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture; and demonstrates measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness.

To further promote employee health, Physio-Control has a Wellness Team — which held its inaugural Wellness Fair highlighting benefits available to team members, including an onsite health clinic, fitness center, smoking cessation and bicycle commuting safety programs and massage therapy. With the success of the inaugural Wellness Fair, plans are in place to make it a recurring annual event.

With American employers facing increasing healthcare expenses and health-related losses in productivity that cost an estimated $225.8 billion a year, the Start! is a catalyst for positive change by helping companies make their employees’ health and wellness a priority.

“(The program) offers a unique, easy-to-implement opportunity for corporations to increase employees physical activity, which will help improve their health and their employers bottom line,” said Rebecca Weaver, executive director for AHA in Puget Sound. “Even people who haven’t exercised regularly until middle age can reap significant benefits by starting a walking program. A study published in 1986 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that some adults may gain two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise they performed.”

For more information about the Start! call (206) 632-6881 or visit startwalkingnow.org.