Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been recognized for the third year in a row as a Healthier Tennessee Workplace by the Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness.
The 2016 award honors Vanderbilt’s commitment to encouraging and enabling employees to live a healthy lifestyle both at work and home.
“Vanderbilt has created a culture of wellness that encourages and enables employees to be healthier, more productive and more satisfied with their jobs,” said Richard Johnson, president and CEO of the Governor’s Foundation. “It’s good for business, and it’s good for Tennessee.”
To become a Healthier Tennessee Workplace, Vanderbilt certified that it has a wellness program in place that does the following:
• Encourages and enables physical activity in the workplace
• Offers healthy eating options at work
• Provides a tobacco-free environment and help with tobacco cessation
• Encourages and enables employees to monitor their own health through regular health risk assessments, screenings or checkups
• Rewards and recognizes employees for participating in health and wellness activities and achieving health improvements
Vanderbilt promotes healthy lifestyles for employees and families, including access to the Vanderbilt Recreation and Wellness Center. Health Plus helps them manage their weight, track their health numbers, eat a healthy diet and be physically active. The Medical Center has also promoted clean air inside and outside of buildings, including a ban on smoking on the Medical Center campus that went into effect in October 2008.
“We are very pleased and proud to be recognized by the Governor’s Foundation for our commitment to the health and wellness of our work force,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., Deputy CEO for VUMC and Chief Health System Officer. “The team at Health Plus does a great job of creating this favorable environment, meeting the listed requirements and much more.”
