Employees may soon be able to bank on better health, at least if they are on staff at The Bank of Bermuda.

The Island's largest bank is taking action to prevent illnesses among employees by hiring an on-staff nurse to support employee and retiree health, said payroll and benefits manager Penny White.

Aside from helping employees and retirees be proactive about their health, the nurse will also "help manage chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and asthma, all of which are prevalent in Bermuda", said Ms White.

The role of the nurse would be more of an educational and preventative role, not a clinical one.

"This will be done through the development and implementation of a wellness programme and a disease management programme," said Ms White. "The wellness programme will concentrate on overall well-being, with initial focus on nutrition, exercise and stress reduction."

That programme will include information on diet and nutrition, the importance of regular exercise (the Bank has a gym provided at a reduced rate to both employees and retirees), basic health screening, and programmes on quitting smoking and stress reduction. It can target both groups and individuals.

Meanwhile the disease management programme will centre around the primary diseases in Bermuda: Asthma, diabetes and heart disease.

"The nurse will also coordinate overseas referrals for medical treatment, working closely with our plan administrators and the local physician community," continued Ms White. "The nurse's service would be confidential and at no cost to users. We hope it will be a useful resource for our employees and retirees although it will obviously not prevent them from visiting their own doctor when necessary."

In fact, for illnesses serious enough to keep an employee at home, employees are urged to call their doctor instead of the nurse, whose role is more preventative.

Although she was unable to share the internal statistics for the Bank of Bermuda, Ms White said: "As the second largest employer in Bermuda our employee group provides a microcosm of the health issues currently facing Bermuda and the world as a whole."

"The Bank wanted to have a centralised resource for health for its most important asset, its employees. Our goal is to improve the health of our current and retired employees, and offer them a resource that keeps them well and enhances their quality of life."