District wellness events reach 471 employees; officials say fairs aim to cut health costs

Okaloosa County School District risk management staff told the board on Thursday that a series of employee health fairs this spring drew hundreds of staff and will inform district wellness planning.

Director of risk management Miss Kato said the district ran three main weekend fairs—at Choctawhatchee High (77 attendees), Crestview High (97) and Central Administration (87)—and additional on-site biometrics at listed schools that served 210 employees. "Altogether, we ... exceeded that by reaching 471 employees, which I thought was phenomenal," Miss Kato said.

Kato said the events included vendor screenings (skin cancer checks), 3-D body scans for bone and muscle mass, MicroBio gut-health vendor Digby Health, Sam's Club membership offers and opportunities to open accounts with Teachers Federal Credit Union. She emphasized that individual medical results remain protected by HIPAA; the district expects to receive aggregate metrics from vendors to identify the top health issues districtwide.

"What we brought to them, we're meeting their needs where they're at," Miss Kato said, describing on-site testing and next-business-day results. Board members and staff characterized the fairs as a preventative step that could reduce future urgent-care or hospital visits and help control insurance costs. "The health fair is just another piece of risk management ... that can help lower cost," a board member said.

Miss Kato thanked wellness ambassadors and school partners for staffing the events and noted that the fairs were designed to boost morale and staff engagement while connecting employees to benefits and community vendors.

Ending: Staff said they will return with aggregated, de-identified data indicating district-level health priorities and potential wellness investments; no formal action was taken at the meeting.