Our History

• In the first 5 years of operations, from 1978-1983, HSG was almost exclusively in the Employee Fitness business, starting in Waterloo, Ontario and then expanding to Calgary and Toronto.


• In 1983-85, HSG was an integral part of an Occupational Health firm. HSG learned how to apply its work to the overall objectives of the early recovery and rehabilitation process in corporations.


• It was during this time also that HSG began developing its own brand of Health Promotion products in Nutrition & Weight Control, Stress Abatement, Office Ergonomics, Back Care, etc.


• In 1985-86, HSG was part of the Corporate Ventures Division of a large medical services firm. Observations of the Executive Medical process during this period reinforced for HSG, the importance of wellness as a health management strategy for employers.


• It was during the period 1986-89 that HSG began applying our corporate fitness approach to the development and management of commercial facilities. Beginning with a club in Toronto, and quickly following with clubs in Calgary, HSG took a "marketing approach" to Club Management, where we focused on achieving specific branding and financial outcomes for our clients.


• During the period 1988-1995, HSG became a wholly-owned subsidiary of a large insurance company. Through this experience, HSG worked closely with the Vice President, Actuary, to develop a Cost/Benefit model for demonstrating the payback of fitness/wellness programs in the workplace as it related to reduced insurance utilization in the various employee benefit streams. When the Canadian Group operation was sold off to another insurance company, HSG was sold back to Mr. Cowan, Founder & CEO of Health Systems Group.


• From September 1995 to September 1998, HSG had a 3-year licensing agreement with a major pharmaceutical company to provide our Health Profile™ product. Also, during this time we developed our HealthAudit™ instrument for evaluating the operational procedures in organizations in the areas of disability management, utilization controls, demand management, early detection and health promotion. In addition, HSG collaborated with an expert in drug benefit analysis to develop an Analysis of Drug Benefit Utilization that integrated with HSG's Health Profile instrument.


• It was during this period when HSG also began managing the fitness and recreation operations of non-profit organizations, beginning with an Ontario community college.


• In 1998-99, HSG entered a strategic alliance with another pharmaceutical company within which we developed our Health Audit™ tool into a much more strategic and web-enabled instrument.


• In 1999-2000, HSG completed a "Business Case for Active Living in the Workplace" under contract to Health Canada. HSG's ability to develop this work was based on in-depth research analysis and years of experience gained with organizations across Canada.


• It was about this time also when we began web-enabling our Health Promotion products and survey instruments.


• In October, 2000 Doug Cowan, Founder and CEO of HSG was recognized with the Canadian Workplace Health Pioneer Award from the Health, Work & Wellness Institute for his "pioneering efforts, creativity, innovation and leadership" in the field of Organizational Health.


• Beginning in 2001, HSG completed work on our first version of Club Audit™, a comprehensive review instrument for evaluating the operations of large fitness and recreation clubs and comparing them to industry best practices. This tool has undergone continuous improvement since that time, as HSG uses it in many different applications, including assessing the integrity of our own projects.


• Beginning in 2004, HSG partnered with a hospital in Metro Toronto to provide them with a comprehensive Wellness Program focused on assisting the hospital to rebuild a positive health culture after a traumatic experience with SARS. This led to a more rigorous understanding and application of the principles of Organizational Health, including a healthy workplace culture as described in the work of fellow Pioneer award winners - Dr.'s Graham Lowe, Martin Shain and Linda Duxbury.


• In 2004, HSG also began a partnership with a Community Centre in Toronto, affording us the opportunity to apply our Club Management experience to another not-for-profit association. This has subsequently expanded to three other locations; one in Montreal in 2006 and two more in the Toronto area in 2007.

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