Cardinal Health gives Ohio State $1 million for workplace mental health
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Cardinal Health is gifting $1 million to the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to address mental health needs in the workforce, something central Ohio business leaders say is sorely needed.
The money will go directly to support OSU’s Center for Psychiatry and Resilience to turn the research already being conducted at the center into practical strategies that can be implemented by employers to better their employees’ mental health.
“As we look at what’s important and what the needs of our workforce are, the data are really clear,” said Jessie Cannon, president of Cardinal Health Foundation, the charitable arm of Dublin-based health care company Cardinal Health. “Mental health is a huge need, not only in our workforce but also in the communities in which we do business… It shows up in terms of lost productivity, absenteeism, increased medical costs and we know that our employees haven’t been getting the care that they need.”
More than 20% of adults live with mental illness and about 5.5% experience serious mental illness nationwide, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. But Dr. K. Luan Phan, chair of OSU Wexner Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, noted that mental illnesses don’t just impact the individuals actively experiencing them.
“There’s often the statistic that one out of five Americans are struggling with mental health challenges,” said Phan, “But in fact, because of those challenges, it transcends to coworkers, family members, neighbors, colleagues, fellow students. It affects five out of five of us.”
That’s why, Phan argues, it’s vital that workplaces — where people spend a majority of their week — must do what they can to help improve their employees’ mental health.
“Mental health is such a complex and pervasive issue that it has to be a united and concerted effort of everyone, so kind of all hands on deck. Obviously, medical centers and clinics have to do their part, but I would argue that individuals and families and folks in the workplace all have a part in the solution,” Phan added.
Billions lost in the nation’s economy due to mental health
The American Psychiatric Association estimates that depression alone, which is often a comorbidity of other mental health issues, costs the U.S. economy more than $200 billion annually due to absenteeism and lost productivity.
A study from the National Bureau of Research found that people with mental illness don’t just impact the businesses for whom they work. Those suffering from mental illness also consume less, invest less in their homes, and mental illness influences the types of jobs people take, therefore shaping the whole of the economy.
The issue has been top of mind for many employers in central Ohio, according to Pat Tiberi, president and CEO of Ohio Business Roundtable.
Cardinal Health has helped spearhead conversations around mental health and business in the region with the roundtable, a nonprofit organization comprised of more than 120 chief executive officers of Ohio businesses.
A happy, healthier employee means a happy, healthier workforce, and that’s not just the right thing to do, it’s a strategic business investment, Tiberi argues.
“If you can reduce [mental health struggles] and if you can help your employee deal with that, both in the workplace and, quite frankly, outside the workplace, you’re going to have a better employee,” Tiberi said. “You’re gonna have a better workplace culture. You’re gonna have a better business.”
Samantha Hendrickson is The Dispatch’s medical business and health care reporter. She can be reached at [email protected]
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