YRMC and Yuma Sun kick off Healthy Yuma 2011

YRMC CEO Patrick Walz and Yuma Sun Publisher Joni Brooks took the first steps toward creating a healthier Yuma Wednesday when they signed an employer resolution to kick off Healthy Yuma 2011.

The Yuma Sun and Yuma Regional Medical Center are the two founding organizations of the program.

The program is a countywide effort to support proper nutrition, weight loss, exercise and freedom from addictions.

Before they signed their respective employer resolutions for Healthy Yuma, Walz and Brooks discussed their plans to get their employees involved in the program.

“We will be getting together as a group and deciding on what kind of healthy initiatives we want to take for 2011,” Brooks said.

“I can envision a walking club where people can go during their lunch hour. We'll have a designated track where they can go and track their exercise. ... We'll make it fun!”

For YRMC, Walz said he plans to enact, among other plans, a Get Wellness Menu.

“For each day of the week we'll have something different that is focused on something healthy to eat for lunch and dinner,” Walz said.

Both parties are very eager for the program to begin, and to spread the word so that the community can be heavily involved.

Dr. Carl Myers, program leader and retired oncologist, said so far the program has gained an abundance of community support.

Myers said he has high hopes for employer involvement in the county health program.

“What we hope to do is, over the next two and a half months, sign up employers that would represent 80 percent of the employee population in Yuma County,” Myers said.

Myers said he and the other program representatives have already generated support for the program from local Optimist Clubs, Rotary Clubs, and the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce.

Myers said he has also spoken with the larger government employers in town to gain further program support.

“We have talked with the Yuma Proving Ground, the air base, and the border patrol,” Myers said.

“They are all very interested in seeing how they can integrate the work they are already doing in the area of healthy lifestyles, and integrate it into the Healthy Yuma 2011 project.”