A June 9, 1997 article in the health section of the Post-Bulletin in Rochester, MN featured the success of Rolfing as part of a wellness program at Starkey Laboratories, a private company that manufactures hearing aids. Most poignant is the story of a woman who managed to avoid surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome by undergoing a few sessions of Rolfing.
Starkey Laboratories was the first company in the U.S. to offer on-site Rolfing along with massage and chiropractic as part of a company-wide wellness program.
“Starkey says its workers’ compensation claims costs dropped from $1.3 million in 1992, when it began its wellness program, to below $150,000 in 1996, when the program was expanded systemwide.”
A data-entry clerk in the Starkey credit department, Marianne Dalton, had undergone surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome on her right hand and was scheduled for surgery on the left hand. After a series of sessions with the Rolfer, Dalton was happy to hear her doctor reclassify her surgery as optional so long as Rolfing continued to work for her. As of the time of publishing (four years later), she still hadn’t needed the surgery.
Dalton’s Rolfing treatments cost the company $600, a considerable investment, but far better than the $5-10,000 cost of carpal tunnel syndrome surgery and the estimated lifetime cost to the company of $30,000
For video: see this post.
[…] and Starkey Laboratories’ health care costs (Video) Jump to Comments In a previous post, I talked about Starkey Laboratories. Here’s the news story as covered by […]