District wellness coordinator reports clinic saved district "just short of $900,000" and credits staff engagement for student benefits

Kalise Horst, the district’s wellness coordinator, told the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District board the district’s on-site clinic and wellness initiatives have boosted staff participation and produced measurable financial and health returns. "When staff are doing better, our students are doing better," Horst said during the board’s regular meeting.

Horst highlighted participation metrics and program details: 144 employees signed up for fitness classes this year (a 19% increase), monthly-challenge participation rose 21%, and 76 people had already signed up for the district’s “amazing race” wellness event. She attributed some of the program’s ROI to lower costs for services the clinic provides in-house — vaccine clinics, dermatology events and pharmacy consultations — and to early detection of conditions that would otherwise require more costly care. "We have a clinic ROI just short of $900,000 since we've started, in January 2024," Horst said.

Horst described specialty clinic days that target vaccines, dermatology screenings and pharmacy reviews that lead to medication optimization, and cited examples in which in-house procedures cost a small fraction of what they would in outside clinics. She also reviewed outcomes from a one-on-one healthy lifestyle coaching program: participation increased 45% year over year, with 77% of program participants reporting weight loss and similar improvement among employees with abnormal A1c values.

Board members sought clarification about how the ROI number was calculated and how program savings are counted. Horst explained that savings include avoided outside-care costs and lower referral prices when services are provided through the district clinic rather than billed through insurance. Trustees also asked about the district’s therapy dog program; Horst said Kingsley and other certified therapy dogs visit schools, and the district has developed a volunteer process that requires certification, vaccinations and liability considerations.

Board members praised the wellness work as staff‑retention and morale initiatives that also support student outcomes. The board had no formal action on the wellness report; Horst’s presentation served as an informational update and was followed by a question-and-answer session.