How ‘Health Champions’ Fueled Systemwide Change at AdventHealth
What does it take to embed well-being into the DNA of a health system with 100,000 team members across more than 2,000 sites? At AdventHealth, it started with data, intention, and a bold shift to an enterprise-wide model.
About AdventHealth
AdventHealth is a connected network of care that helps people feel whole in body, mind and spirit. More than 100,000 team members provide whole-person care at more than 2,000 sites nationwide, including hospitals, physician practices, home health agencies, hospice centers and more. Their holistic approach to improving their communities’ health and prosperity is inspired by their mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ.
The Ask
AdventHealth’s well-being program was strong at the local level but lacked a unified strategy. Resources and communications were inconsistent across regions, and there was a growing need for a consistent culture of well-being to reach all 100,000 team members. AdventHealth partnered with WebMD Health Services to embed well-being into the DNA of their hospital health system without adding headcount.
The Strategy
The first step in creating a cohesive, consistent well-being program was listening to their employees. WebMD worked with AdventHealth to conduct an inventory of current local efforts to identify strengths and gaps. Focus groups with health champions uncovered real needs, which helped build a unified communication cadence and informed the creation of new tools.
Another critical step was gaining leadership buy-in to revamp the well-being program. Key to this process was ensuring leaders knew that the changes would be budget-neutral and not require any additional headcount. By explaining the value of health champions and framing them as “force multipliers,” not new expenses, leadership better understood the value of the well-being program. ROI data from markets where well-being efforts had been successful was also critical to their buy-in.
The Output
Core to the strategy was the “Health Champion” model. Champions are individuals who are passionate about well-being and agree to serve as local, trusted peer advocates in AdventHealth locations. Champions partner with WebMD’s program manager to develop well-being programming and serve as visible, “boots-on-the-ground” support and motivation for AdventHealth employees.
The revamped well-being program launched in September 2024 to all AdventHealth locations. It featured automated well-being program onboarding and consistent tools for HR and managers, including toolkits with talking points and FAQs. Leveraging AdventHealth’s internal HR IT teams helped streamline communication efforts and accurately capture results.
The Results
With over 2,590 Health Champions, AdventHealth saw impressive preliminary results:
- 26% higher site registrations
- 171% higher biometric screenings
- 129% higher health assessments
- 716% more return visits to the WebMD portal
Our work with AdventHealth is an example of how leadership alignment, an active local champion network and a grassroots partnership approach can unify scattered efforts into a scalable, champion-led well-being culture that any organization can be proud of.
What’s Next for AdventHealth
AdventHealth is continuing to support its well-being approach to advance body, mind and spirit, deepening whole-person well-being across all sites. Efforts will include:
Body
- Evaluating physical health and weight management resources.
Mind
- Expanding mental health training for leaders.
- Expanding mental health peer advocate training.
Spirit
- Continue partnering with internal faith-based well-being resources.
