One of several worksites in the region taking steps to decrease healthcare expenses, increase productivity
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (March 2, 2015) — White Plains Hospital has been recognized as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association for helping employees eat healthier and move more. Platinum is the highest level of fit-friendly recognition from the American Heart Association.
“The Fit-Friendly Worksites program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping worksites make their employees’ health and well-being a priority,” according to Jennifer Gelick, Regional Director of Westchester & Putnam Counties for the American Heart Association. “White Plains Hospital has demonstrated its commitment to and investment in its employee’s health in several impressive ways.”
American employers are losing an estimated $225.8 billion a year because of healthcare expenses and health-related losses in productivity, and those numbers are rising. Many American adults spend most of their waking hours at sedentary jobs. Their lack of regular physical activity raises their risk for a host of medical problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Employers face $12.7 billion in annual medical expenses due to obesity alone. The American Heart Association is working to change corporate cultures by motivating employees to start walking, which has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity.
“Physical activity and employee wellness are important priorities at White Plains Hospital. We are honored and excited to be recognized once again by the American Heart Association as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite,” said Frank J. LoCastro, Ed. D., Wellness Program Coordinator at White Plains Hospital.
To receive recognition, Platinum-level employers must offer employees physical activity options in the workplace; increase healthy eating options; promote a wellness culture; implement at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture; and demonstrate measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness.
White Plains Hospital offers employees on-site exercise classes such as yoga and walking groups, discounts on gym memberships, a weekly wellness newsletter, stress reduction seminars, Weight Watchers at work, a smoking cessation program, and other programs to promote a healthy lifestyle. An example was the successful Walking Wednesdays program the Hospital implemented this summer that brought out dozens of employees each week for half hour brisk walks around the campus and surrounding community.
For more information about the Fit-Friendly Worksites program and how it’s helping to improve the health of Americans by focusing on the workplace, call (914) 694-6464 or visit http://www.heart.org/worksitewellness.
About White Plains Hospital
A member of the Montefiore Health System,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 is the only community hospital in Westchester County to perform lifesaving emergency & 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. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Our mission drives everything we do. To improve the lives of all Americans, we provide public health education in a variety of ways. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or join us, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or any of our offices around the country, or visit heart.org.