mWell launches corporate wellness programs

mWell, the digital healthcare arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), launched on May 23 Wellness@Work, a suite of customizable programs created to promote a healthier and more productive workforce.

The suite provides human resources (HR) stakeholders with a dashboard to manage all aspects of employee wellness in one place.

“A company is only as strong as the people behind it,” said mWell chairman and MPIC chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“That’s why we’re doubling down on employee wellness with mWell—bringing together technology, data, and real expertise to help build a workforce that’s not just productive, but healthy and thriving,” he said in a May 23 statement.

Wellness@Work’s Corporate Scoreboard is a monitoring system that gives HR teams real-time insight into employee participation, health trends, and wellness outcomes. It includes monitoring of the artificial intelligence-powered mWellness Score, which tracks physical activity, as well as the Mind Health Score, which helps measure emotional well-being and stress levels.

Employees, meanwhile, gain access to a personalized wellness experience, which includes 24/7 doctor consultations, curated fitness and nutrition programs, and interactive team challenges.

Unhealthy employees are twice as likely to disengage, leading to lower productivity and increased turnover. Hospitalized employees in the Philippines, on average, can incur medical costs of about ₱15,000 per month, based on private hospital estimates. Productivity losses from absenteeism, presenteeism, and decreased engagement cost employers an average of $1,685 per employee per annum, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health is the company’s biggest investment, said mWell president and CEO and MPIC chief finance, risk, and sustainability officer Chaye Cabal-Revilla.

“For companies, big or small, investing in employees’ health is important to enable our people to live healthier, happier, and longer,” she said in the same statement. “We are here to help companies increase overall employee happiness and morale, lessen absenteeism, improve productivity, and enhance talent management.”

“Having a healthy workforce will deliver savings on corporate wellness expenses,” she added.

In the offing too are lifestyle programs, in collaboration with Lifestyle Medical Group Manila, with customized nutrition plans and chronic disease management.

“LifestyleMedMNL’s vision is to provide prevention and treatment of lifestyle-related diseases at both individual and community levels, and we have found the right partner for this,” its president Dr. Nicole Anne “Aika” Buenavista said. – Patricia B. Mirasol

mWell is the digital health arm of Metro Pacific Health, a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.