In today’s healthcare landscape, leaders face a dual challenge: protecting the well-being of their workforce while operating under ever-tighter financial constraints. Burnout rates remain high among clinicians and support staff, and yet budgetary pressures often force organizations to cut or delay investments in wellness programs.
The good news? Fostering a healthier, more resilient workforce doesn’t always require expensive initiatives. By focusing on creative, evidence-based strategies, healthcare organizations can advance team well-being in ways that strengthen morale, improve patient care and enhance retention—even when resources are limited.
In a recent episode of the Healthcare Executive Podcast, Fayola Edwards-Ojeba, MD, hosted Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, former chief wellness officer at The Ohio State University and a recognized leader in evidence-based wellness initiatives, for a discussion about this very pressing topic. Her expertise offers a roadmap for healthcare leaders seeking to do more with less.
Establish a Strategic Plan for Well-Being
When Dr. Melnyk stepped into her role at The Ohio State University in 2011, she quickly realized that many wellness activities were happening in silos. “Ohio State was doing a lot of good things. We had our own health plan. We had an online wellness portal for faculty, staff, clinicians. Student life was doing really good work. But there was no alignment, no strategic plan for well-being,” she recalls. “And that is essential to be established early on, because silos are alive and well throughout this country, and you cannot build a culture of well-being in silos.”
One of Dr. Melnyk’s earliest wins was bringing together disparate programs into a cohesive, university-wide wellness strategy—a move that not only reduced duplication but also established credibility for her role. The lesson? Many organizations already have elements of wellness programs in place. Aligning and strategically communicating them can generate momentum without requiring large new expenditures.
Make the Business Case—With Data
Skepticism from leadership is common, especially when resources are tight. Dr. Melnyk emphasizes that numbers tell the story best: “When you show your leaders the return and value of investment, they start to change their perspective on wellness as a nicety to wellness as a necessity.”
At Ohio State, her team tracked 10 key health indicators—including obesity, high blood pressure, poor nutrition, tobacco use, depression and high stress—that are known drivers of healthcare costs. For every dollar invested in employee well-being, the university saw a $2 to $3.65 return. “It not only covered our wellness initiative, but benefited the university more with increased dollars,” she notes.
Tackle Burnout as a Business Risk
Burnout rates among clinicians currently range from 40% to 60% nationally, and the consequences are severe. “When clinicians are burnt out, they make more preventable medical errors. Patient outcomes are worsened. There’s more turnover,” said Dr. Melnyk. “People need to start looking at this as an investment, not as an expense.”
By framing wellness as directly tied to patient safety, quality and retention, healthcare leaders can reposition wellness programs from “extras” to essential infrastructure.
Invest in High-Impact, Low-Cost Strategies
Wellness doesn’t have to mean expensive apps or technology platforms. In fact, some of the most effective interventions are grassroots and low-cost. At Ohio State, Dr. Melnyk established a Wellness Ambassador Program that includes more than 700 clinicians, faculty and staff who volunteer a few hours each month to foster well-being in their units. “They really are a force,” she shares.
Other cost-effective strategies include implementing evidence-based mindfulness and cognitive behavioral skills programs, which have been proven to reduce stress and strengthen resilience. Importantly, she cautions against relying on resilience training alone: “Clinicians don’t want to hear any more, ‘We’ve got to be more resilient.’ What we need is system issues [being] fixed. But resiliency is still a protective factor.”
Leadership and Culture Are Non-Negotiable
Perhaps the most critical ingredient is leadership buy-in. “You’ve got to have a leader—whether you call them a chief wellness officer, a director of wellness, whatever—you have to have a strong person who sits at the executive team arena,” says Dr. Melnyk. Simply appointing someone to the role without adequate authority or resources won’t work. “You’re not going to get a lot done if you hire a CWO and give them 30 to 50% time. This takes an investment that will reap so many benefits,” she adds.
Equally important is culture change. Breaking down mental health stigma, reducing unnecessary bureaucratic burdens, and making it easy—even fun—to engage in healthy behaviors all create environments where employees feel supported. Dr. Melnyk highlights the powerful role of middle managers: “They so deeply affect the grassroots of the organization.”
Measure, Adapt and Reinforce Mattering
Measurement is essential for progress, but so is perception. “In all of my research I have shown people’s perception of their wellness culture. If they believe their organization supports their well-being, they have so much better physical and mental health outcomes along with increased engagement, productivity, less turnover,” says Dr. Melnyk. Even small changes, like cutting unnecessary meetings, which she noted can increase productivity by up to 70%, can make a meaningful difference.
The Call to Action
As Dr. Melnyk puts it, “Not doing wellness for your people is a business risk.” For organizations facing financial hardship, the temptation may be to push wellness efforts to the side. But, the evidence shows that ignoring clinician and staff well-being costs more in the long run—through turnover, poor outcomes and lost productivity.
By aligning existing initiatives, focusing on evidence-based interventions, engaging leadership at every level and reinforcing a culture in which employees know they matter, healthcare organizations can advance well-being without blowing their budgets. The investment pays off not just in dollars, but in healthier clinicians, stronger teams and safer patient care.
Check out the conversation between Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, and Fayola Edwards-Ojeba, MD, as well as our complete library of episodes of the Healthcare Executive podcast.