By Laura McAlister
C. Phillip McWane is a big believer in the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It’s something he practices personally, as well as professionally in his role as chairman of McWane, Inc.
Two years ago, the Birmingham company – which has 25 manufacturing plants, including 13 iron foundries – began a phase-in approach to wellness that started with a monthly newsletter called “Did You Know?” and continued to grow with wellness programs like a smoking cessation program, voluntary health assessments, health fairs, free health screenings and more.
The company also has become closely involved with the American Heart Association (AHA) in recent years, in addition to other non-profits in the area. Starting in January, the company made a year-long commitment to help the ASA promote its 24th annual Heart Ball, one of the organization’s biggest fundraisers.
“From a personal standpoint, I’m involved with children’s issues from several viewpoints, and the AHA focus on healthy hearts and heart disease prevention is something we can all support,” McWane said.
Because of his support for the AHA, as well as wellness initiatives implemented at McWane, Inc., the heart association is honoring McWane at this year’s Heart Ball set for March 5 at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center.
Each year, past honorees of the Heart Ball select the ball’s honoree. McWane’s commitment to promoting the Heart Ball and to the wellness of the roughly 6,000 employees at McWane, Inc., made him an obvious choice for this year’s honoree, said Carol Garrison, president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the 23rd Heart Ball honoree.
“For 24 years, the Birmingham Heart Ball has raised millions of dollars to support the mission of the American Heart Association,” she said “Each year, the honoree is selected by a group of former Heart Ball honorees, and we are all proud to recognize C. Phillip McWane as the 24th Annual Heart Ball honoree.
“Phillip is making a real and lasting impact on the American Heart Association with his involvement.”
While safety has always been a priority at McWane, Inc., in 2009 the company began to expand that focus to health and preventative care.
It started with the monthly newsletter focusing on topics like stress management, the benefits of exercise and how to manage cholesterol. The newsletter is mailed out to all employees’ homes so it benefits not just employees but also their families.
In August 2010, McWane offered, at no cost to employees, the Quit for Life program, a tobacco cessation program, again not only to employees, but also their spouses and dependents ages 18 and older.
The program aims to help people break free of their physical and psychological addictions to tobacco products through a mixture of medication, phone-based counseling and web and social support. So far, more than 150 employees and their family members have enrolled in the program.
Also in 2010, McWane offered employees the opportunity to have a complete Health Risk Assessment to identify possible health risks and offer recommendations on how to control or prevent those risks.
All these programs are in addition to other safety measures McWane has implemented over the past several years.
In addition to having professional medical staff to treat work-related injuries, the company also has a full-time medical staff at many of its facilities to treat minor non work-related illnesses, take blood pressure readings or provide counseling.
Many of the facilities have health fairs where employees can receive medical evaluations and information on wellness activities at no cost.
McWane also has a health and safety program, which encourages the formation of an employee-driven committee at each facility that implements health activities, as well as bringing in medical speakers and getting reduced membership fees at local health clubs for McWane employees.
Joining the American Heart Association in January to help promote the Heart Ball was a natural next step in the company’s efforts to encourage heart health and wellness, McWane said.
The 24th Annual Heart Ball is only a few weeks away, but so far, McWane said, fundraising is well underway.
“The campaign is going well, and I must thank Mark Drew of Maynard, Cooper and Gale and Dr. James Kirklin and Dr. James Andrews for all of their hard work,” McWane said. “These individuals have taken a lot of time from their normal schedules.
“The success we have this year is because of them and the many other volunteers who are involved every year.”
