Sheetz Plans $3.5M Wellness Center for Employees

CLAYSBURG, Pa. -- Many companies talk about investing in their workforce for the betterment of the overall organization, but Sheetz Inc. is backing up its words with action with its plans for the new $3.5 million Sheetz Health and Wellness Center, according to an Altoona Mirror report. The facility will be located at the Sheetz Distribution Center in Greenfield Township, Pa.'s Walter Business Park.

"With escalating health care costs, we were looking for a way we could provide a program for our employees that could help control health care costs," said Bill Young, director of compensation, benefits and risk for Sheetz. "Wellness is evolving. It seems like the right thing for us to do. Our goal is to create a culture of 'Shwellness.'"

The entire facility will occupy nearly 10,000 square feet and contain a 2,200-square-foot wellness center in the building's center that will provide high-quality primary care, health assessments, lifestyle coaching and disease management services. Employees will also be able to go through wellness screenings or treat on-the-job injuries, Young told the newspaper. Vermont-based Marathon Health Inc. will serve as the on-site medical services provider.

"Companies need to be proactive and create a culture where associates want to get healthy if the cost trends are going to bend. We are in business to do just that," Marathon Health CEO Jerry Ford said in a statement. "We are ecstatic to have a company as well regarded as Sheetz on board who shares that vision with us."

Other major features will include a 4,300-square-foot fitness center that provides exercise equipment and weights, and a 2,900-square-foot two-room conference center that may host Weight Watchers meetings or healthy eating educational classes.

Any of the approximately 1,500 employees of the Sheetz Distribution Center and the nearby Sheetz Bros. Kitchen will be able to use the center, along with their dependents. And it's good for the environment as well as people, as the facility is designed to be LEED-certified with a geothermal heating system, according to the Mirror.

"We were going to build it green. We felt it was best to build it LEED-certified," said Young. "Green and wellness go together."