Honored for creating, sharing roadmap to workplace wellness

PORTLAND – Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon scored higher than any company, including some Fortune 500 members, among those vying to be the state’s 2010 Healthiest Employer.

“Being ambassadors of wellness to our members and our communities is part of who we are as a health solutions company,”said Mark Ganz, president and CEO of The Regence Group.“We designed a program that makes wellness part of our workplace culture, and we have demonstrated that wellness is a sound investment.”
 
Sponsored by the Portland Business Journal, the Healthiest Employers program recognizes companies for their wellness programs, ranked according to size.
 
Scoring by wellness professionals and academics rates the answers to 75 questions in seven key areas of workplace wellness: Culture and Leadership, Commitment, Foundational Components, Strategic Planning, Communications and Marketing, Programming and Interventions, and Reporting and Analysis.
 
Healthiest Employers recognizes companies that proactively shape the health of their employees and make a commitment to impact the health of their workplace and their bottom line. Its goal is to:
  • Create a healthier, more productive community of employees who understand the value of health care and are actively involved in managing their own health.
  • Reward organizations that have taken steps to raise awareness and pro-actively created ahealthier workforce.
  • Be a resource to other organizations by developing a roadmap to create or improve corporate wellness initiatives.
 
Regence has earned several workplace wellness honors this year: gold-level designation from Wellness Councils of America (Welcoa) for its employee program in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Utah; Washington State’s Golden Apple award, and a platinum level from Utah Council for Worksite Health Promotion.
 
About Regence
Regence is the largest health insurer in the Northwest / Intermountain Region, offering health, life and dental insurance. Regence serves more than 2.5 million members as Regence BlueShield of Idaho, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and Regence BlueShield (selected counties in Washington). Each health plan is a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Regence is committed to improving the health of our members and our communities, and to transforming our health care system. For more information, please visit www.regence.com or follow us on Twitter.