This Month’s Working on Wellness Employee of the Month is
Internal Medicine’s Hannah Hall, MD! Hannah prioritizes her health not only for
herself, but for her family, patients, and staff as well. She discussed the
importance of priorities, a healthy lifestyle, and preventative health.
Health has always been an important part of Hannah’s lifestyle and she’s taken
many of the things she gained from an active childhood into her adult life.
“As far as staying healthy I was raised that way. My parents got me involved in lots of activities like tennis, basketball, and soccer,” said Hall. “Growing up we did a lot of outdoor activities like hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, sailing, and water skiing. I had exposure to a lot of activities, including lifelong sports like golf.”
Hannah went on to play tennis in college for a few years and
also participated in intramural sports. She was also a big runner until a knee
injury 5 years ago. Since then, she’s had to find new activities to keep her
healthy and one of those activities is hockey.
“My newest thing is hockey, I started a few years ago as a novice at the rink.
I ice skated a little growing up but not a ton, and I wasn’t very good. Novice is
great and I enjoy it because it’s a lot like soccer and basketball. You get
that same sports feel and its competitive. It satisfies the competitive nature
in me and It’s really fun. I have a smile on my face the whole time I’m out
there,” said Hall.
Along with hockey, Hannah does weight lifting at the hospital’s employee gym
and enjoys using her Pelton bike at home.
When asked what motivates her, she discussed the importance of balancing priorities and making time for self-care.
“You have to figure out a balance in your priorities and for
me that’s taken awhile. You come out of school and your priority is work and
that’s probably not the healthiest to have. For me, I figured out it’s faith,
marriage, family, and then work,” said Hall. “To have those lined out I have to
be healthy and I have to make time for self-care. That’s what motivates me. I
have to take care of myself in order to be available for my family, patients,
and staff.”
For Hannah self-care means exercising, eating healthy, and making time for the
outdoor activities she enjoys. After seeing how health has always been a
priority in her life, it’s easy to see why Hannah is passionate about
preventive health for her patients.
“In my job a lot of issues are related to weight and lifestyle. It’s a big
thing that I talk to people about and I always ask what motivates them. If you
can find out that people are motivated to work on lifestyle changes, I think
that’s the best thing. If you can motivate people to make those lifestyle
changes early on you can prevent things like diabetes and heart disease,” said
Hall.
The advice she would give others who are ready to make a lifestyle changes is to set small goals and to find things you enjoy that you know you can do for a long time.
“Don’t expect that you’re going to go from not exercising ever, to doing an hour a day. Start with small goals and don’t get discouraged if you start a change and you don’t see results right away,” said Hall. “You’re doing something great so give yourself credit. I always ask what works for you? What have you seen success with? Pick something you think you can do for a long time.”