White Plains Mayor helps to launch one-month challenge kicking off Oct. 5
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Sept. 14, 2015)– White Plains Hospital, recognizing its role in helping the community to embrace a healthy lifestyle, has launched a new initiative to engage area workplaces in helping employees to be more physically active.
The Hospital’s new Ex-STEP-tional stepping challenge will be held from October 5 – 30 with workplaces across the county forming teams to challenge each other to walk the greatest number of steps during that month. The Hospital will hold an awards luncheon on November 5 to recognize the winners.
“White Plains Hospital is committed to keeping our community healthy both inside and outside of our walls,” said White Plains Hospital President & CEO Susan Fox. “That begins with encouraging good health practices, and number one is getting more physical activity. We hope that this walking program - which has been so successful with our employees at White Plains Hospital - will be just as successful at other workplaces in our community.’’
The Hospital launched the Ex-STEP-tional program this week with 16 community partners including the City of White Plains; The American Heart Association; White Plains Institute for Health & Wellness; Shop Rite; the Junior League of Central Westchester; White Plains Youth Bureau; White Plains School District; Divney, Tung, Schwalbe; The Westchester Mall Walkers; White Plains Slater Center; Athleta in Scarsdale; Equinox Fitness Center in Armonk; Schnurmacher Center for Rehabilitation and the offices of New York State Senator Terrence Murphy, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Assemblyman David Buchwald.
White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach said, “The City of White Plains has worked to promote healthy lifestyles, including increased physical activity, through the installation of 4.1 miles of dedicated bike lanes throughout the city, Get Fit White Plains! Charity Miles Program, a month-long effort aimed at jump-starting residents’ fitness routines while at the same time raising money for charity, our annual free outdoor Yoga event on Court Street in the downtown, and the Youth Bureau’s Annual Wellness Week, which will be held September 19-28. The Ex-STEP-tional Stepping Challenge fits perfectly into the kinds of health and wellness activities we support and encourage and I am pleased to support it and encourage White Plains businesses to actively participate.”
Ex-STEP-tional, a name that builds off the Hospital’s brand promise of Exceptional Every Day, is modeled after its tremendously successful internal program Step-it-UP, in which 66 White Plains Hospital teams walked a total of 147,188,740 steps this summer, equivalent to a third of the way to the moon.
“We have seen the benefits of this program here at White Plains Hospital, and thought that it was time for us to offer the wider community a chance to participate,’’ said Frank J. LoCastro, Ed. D., Wellness Program Coordinator at White Plains Hospital, who administers the program.
All area workplaces are being invited to join in by signing up on the Hospital’s website starting September 17 at www.wphospital.org/exsteptional. The sign in can also be accessed from the www.wphospital.org homepage.
Participants can not only sign up on the site, but can visit weekly to post their walking totals and check in on the competition. The site will also offer videos featuring experts who will offer participants advice on how to get the most from their walking program. The videos can also be accessed on the Hospital’s Facebook page and You Tube channel.
About White Plains Hospital
White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center and The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center. The Hospital’s Flanzer Emergency Department is the busiest in Westchester County, seeing over 55,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital performs lifesaving emergency and elective angioplasty in its Joan and Alan Herfort, M.D. Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and earned its recognition as a Top Performer for Key Quality Measures® in 2013. The Hospital is also an eleven-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation, and received Magnet® designation in 2012 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). In 2014 White Plains Hospital received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades®, given to only 5% of hospitals nationwide. White Plains Hospital is a member of the Montefiore Health System. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.