LVBCH Awards St. Luke’s Employee Weight Management Program

Bethlehem, PA (5/23/2016) - The Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Healthcare (LVBCH) recognized
St. Luke’s University Hospital for its commitment to worksite health and wellness as evidenced through its employee weight management programs. SLUHN was one of 15 employers presented with the LVBCH 2016 Wellness Spotlight Award May 5 during the Coalition’s 36^th annual conference, “Healthcare in Transition: Strategies to Increase Healthcare Value” at DeSales University.

“We applaud these employers on their encouragement and support of their employees’ efforts to manage their weight, and consequently reduce their risk of serious diseases and health conditions,” says Thomas J. Croyle, LVBCH President. “By providing access to nutritious food and encouraging physical activity, employers demonstrate their genuine concern for their employees’ health and welfare.”

Components of the program include:

• Mindful meal choice at cafeterias and salad bar price reduction
• Whole-food, plant based cooking class pilot
• Annual community supported agriculture (CSA) program
• Fitness centers with reduced-cost membership and reimbursement
• Tail on the Trail Program and walking routes
• Onsite weight management and medical management programs
• One-to-one health coaching

The Wellness Spotlight is a new program to recognize member companies for their commitment to best practices in worksite health and wellness. Each year, LVBCH will focus on a different health improvement initiative.

“We selected weight management this year because it is a problem with which so many people struggle,” Coyle says. In fact, 30 percent of adults in Pennsylvania are considered obese, according to a 2014 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study, The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America.

“If every employer offered similar weight management benefits, we could significantly reduce that statistic,” Coyle adds. “Making it easy for employees to incorporate healthy lifestyle choices into their workday goes a long way in helping them be successful in losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight.”

Other award recipients were:

• Andesa Services
• Braun Medical Inc.
• City of Bethlehem
• Computer Aid
• Crayola
• Essroc Cement Corp
• Follett Corporation
• Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13
• Lehigh University
• Lehigh Valley Health Network
• Members 1^st Federal Credit Union
• Schlouch Incorporated
• Victaulic
• Volvo Group / Mack Trucks

To be considered for the award, employers completed a survey that assessed their participation in initiatives that were considered “good, better or best” based on available evidence and expected impact level for each. Best initiatives have sufficient and strong evidence available and would be expected to have large impact as measured by improvements in one year.

For benchmarking purposes, LVBCH will share the survey results with coalition members.

Among the initiatives of award recipients are:

• Healthy food choices in cafeterias and vending machines
• On-site gyms, walking programs or fitness classes, such as yoga or dance
• Reimbursement or discounts for off-site gym membership or fitness classes
• Weight loss competitions
• Health fairs
• Weight loss counseling and lectures

For more information on the weight management benefits provided by the award recipients, www.LVBCH.com or contact LVBCH at (610) 317-0130.

About LVBCH

LVBCH is a multi-state, not-for-profit, coalition of employers striving to provide access to quality affordable healthcare for their employees. The Coalition’s mission is to improve the delivery, cost and quality of health care in our communities through: Collective employer action; Quality and data initiatives; Value based purchasing; and, Providing forums for the exchange of information, ideas and resources. The Coalition is also a member of the National Business Coalition on Health, the National Quality Forum and The Leapfrog Group. For more information, visit www.LVBCH.com.

About St. Luke’s

St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a non-profit, regional, fully integrated, nationally recognized network providing services at six hospitals and more than 200 sites, primarily in Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and in Warren County, New Jersey.

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Media Contact:

Mariella B. Miller
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
St. Luke's University Health Network
484-526-4134
Mariella.Miller@sluhn.org

For more information about St. Luke’s services or to find a physician, call St. Luke’s InfoLink toll-free at
1-866-STLUKES (785-8537) Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm or email us anytime at Info.Link@sluhn.org. Read More News