'Biggest Loser' at BRMC

By George Nianiatus, senior writer
Communications Department


Just when people tend to become less active in the winter, Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC) is giving its employees the incentive to lose weight and start exercising so they’ll be healthier.

BRMC’s Wellness Committee is sponsoring its own 12-week-long “Biggest Loser” contest that will ultimately award separate grand prizes to an individual and the team with the biggest weight-loss percentages.

The contest starts Monday, Jan .19, and it’s received far more employee entrants than originally expected from BRMC’s workforce of 750.

“There’s been a lot of talk about it throughout the hospital and we’ve gotten a good turnout. About 160 to 170 employees have registered for either of the two weigh-in days this week,” says Beth Price, RN, who’s the Wellness Committee’s chairman and also BRMC’s education coordinator and manager of the Employee/Occupational Health Department.

The contest was spawned partly from the popular television show of the same name and the fact BRMC’s Surgical Services held its own inner-department competition a few months ago that was successful for employees and gained attention from others, says Mrs. Price.

“The Wellness Committee thought that if we held a hospital-wide competition it would spur individuals to lose weight. Just a loss of 10 pounds can make a person healthier,” she says.

“The idea of the contest is to promote wellness, make weight loss fun and competitive,” notes Mariann Kahle, BRMC’s Food & Nutrition Services director and also a member of the Wellness Committee.

As incentive, the competition will give out a $1,000 prize to the individual who has the highest weight-loss percentage. The winning team will get a prize that has yet to be decided, Mrs. Price states.

Additionally, those individuals who lose 10 percent of their body weight in the competition will have their names entered in a drawing for a $500 prize. Meanwhile, weekly prizes will be given out as added incentive. Each week the individual with the highest weight-loss percentage will win an MP3 player. Also, the leading team each week will have a banner in their department indicating it has the highest weight-loss percentage. Another banner for the leading team will be displayed in BRMC’s cafeteria.

To determine the entrants’ progress and the weekly leaders, weigh-ins will be held Tuesday and Wednesday between 4 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at Upbeat, located on the ground floor of BRMC’s Outpatient Services Center. Upbeat is BRMC’s wellness and cardiac rehabilitation program that provides a variety of exercise equipment and professionally trained staff.

“The hope is that this competition will lead to a healthier and more efficient work force,” Mrs. Price explains. The competition also will be a precursor to other upcoming events, including a heart health program in February and a walking program in spring, Mrs. Price notes. More details about these events will be revealed as they unfold.

For more health information, go to the Medline Plus section at BRMC’s Web site at www.brmc.com.

Pictured, Jamie McDermott (right), RN, of Pain Management at Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC), gets initially weighed for the “Biggest Loser” competition by Judy Harris, RN, clinical analyst, in BRMC’s Upbeat facility, located on the ground floor of the Outpatient Services Center.
(Photo Courtesy of BRMC)