The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) has received a silver level award from the American Heart Association’s Workplace Health Achievement program, recognizing the district’s commitment to employee wellness.
“We appreciate this recognition from the American Heart Association of CVWD’s wellness program,” said CVWD General Manager Jim Barrett. “Employee health and well-being is important to the district. In fact, research shows that healthy living increases happiness and productivity and reduces the cost of medical expenses.”
The award was presented Tuesday (Sept. 25) at the CVWD board meeting. This is the second year that CVWD participated in the program. In 2017, CVWD received the AHA Fit Friendly award.
CVWD has increased its wellness offerings over the past four years with a variety of resources including biometric testing, interactive online competitions, the installation of healthy markets in employee breakrooms, and rewards for those who use fitness trackers. The district also hosts an annual wellness fair for its employees, retirees and families that includes health-related exhibits from local vendors.
The American Heart Association uses a Health Achievement Index to select the organizations for recognition. The index is meant to provide employers with best practices to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of workplace health programs. Topics such as engagement, communications, leadership, programs and outcomes are measured.
CVWD’s wellness team is entirely composed of employees. A third-party wellness vendor, ADURO Inc., was hired this year to help implement the program, called Replenish.
The Coachella Valley Water District is a public agency governed by a five-member board of directors. The district provides domestic and irrigation water, agricultural drainage, wastewater treatment and reclamation services, regional storm water protection, groundwater management and water conservation. It serves approximately 108,000 residential and business customers across 1,000 square miles, located primarily in Riverside County, but also in portions of Imperial and San Diego counties.
