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Two weeks ago, I attended a corporate wellness conference in Chicago.  Here are 10 notable quotes from presenters at the conference:

• “75% of health care costs are from preventable chronic disease” – Dr. Cecil Wilson, American Medical Association President
• “A wellness program has to be strategic and evolve over time.  Otherwise, it’s just perks” – Denise Holand, Hog Slat Director, Employee Healthcare
• “[Google] leadership is very on board with wellness.  Larry Page [CEO] himself spearheaded nutrition pilots” – John Casey, Google Director of International Benefits
• “Health is not just about the absence of health risks.  Health risk assessments (HRAs), therefore, do not tell the whole story” – Steve Cyboran, Sibson Consulting Vice President & Consulting Actuary
• “Having a 20-year-old do your twitter and facebook updates is like having me be your electrician because I’ve turned on a lot of lights” – Mitch Joel, Best Selling Author, Six Pixels of Separation
• “[Health] responsibility is being put on the employee, but the company has to give them the tools to succeed” – Alba I. Rodriguez, Henry Ford Health System, Associate Director, Center for Integrative Wellness and Integrative Medicine Research
• “Think of employees as consumers” – Dr. Bruce Rogen, Cleveland Clinic Employee Health Plan, Chief Medical Officer
• “Vacation days are the most motivating incentive for our employees” – Brian Baumgart, Nord Gear Corporation CFO
• “70% of health care costs come from dependents” – Don Powell, American Institute for Preventative Medicine, President & CEO
• “There is not much left in terms of what you can do changing your health insurance plan.  Companies have to do wellness now” – Ira Finn, Komatsu America Corp., Sr. Meeting Manager, Benefits