Rahm Introduces Health Program For City Employees

Chicago Lives Healthy will offer city employees free health screenings and recommendations

In between the mayor's Chick-fil-A statements, Rahm Emanuel introduced Friday a new wellness program offered to city employees.

Emanuel, along with members from the Department of Transportation and other city labor departments and former Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks, announced the "Chicago Lives Healthy" program, which hopes to keep Chicago's workforce healthy by providing free health screenings and recommendations for city workers.

More than 40 workers, including Emanuel himself, have already taken part in the free screenings.

"I’m really proud that as a city we’re looking out for our employees’ wellbeing above and beyond the norm, in terms of what most employees are doing," Gabe Klein, Commissioner of the Chicago DOT said Friday in a press conference about the program.

The city hopes the free screenings will not only keep workers healthy, but will combat rising health care costs, by giving city workers a free health "base line" and letting them take action on their health, in the hopes that they will not need healthcare in the future.

"it's simple," Chris Cigarran, Vice President of Healthways, told reporters. "Healthier people cost less, and are more productive."

Chicago Lives Healthy will be offered to over 47,000 city employees along with their spouses if they meet eligibility requirements, which makes it the largest wellness program in the country.

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