Mower County employees will soon have their own wellness room inside the Mower County Government Center.

The county board on Tuesday approved a $37,000 grant from their health insurance provider to create a wellness room for county employees.

The wellness room was one of the top requests from employees based on a February survey, according to Mower County Human Resources Director Sherry Roth. County employees hope to set up the wellness room with treadmills, ellipticals, weights and other exercise equipment, similar to the Law Enforcement Center’s fitness room.

The grant will help to set up the room and county employees who use it can pay into an exercise equipment fund.

“This is directly in line with what the Department of Health wants us to do with work-site wellness,” Carissa Studier, Mower County’s Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) coordinator, told the board.

While the board supported the wellness room, Commissioner Jerry Reinartz questioned how often it would be used. County employees said the room would likely be used for light workouts before and after work, and during lunch.

Yet county officials saw the wellness room as a positive way to reduce health insurance claims.

“It’s great,” Commissioner Polly Glynn said. “It’s a great, great program and it’s a good idea.”