VUMC lauded for efforts to help employees lead healthy lives
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in conjunction with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, has been re-accredited as a CEO Cancer Gold Standard employer for 2011.
The award is based on Vanderbilt’s efforts to help employees lead healthier lives, including activities that may help prevent cancer.
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001 when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to “do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families.”
The executives responded by creating the award which is given to organizations that take concrete steps to reduce the cancer risk of employees and their families through screenings, early detection and healthy changes in lifestyle.
To earn the two-year accreditation, an organization must establish programs to discourage tobacco use, encourage physical activity, promote healthy diet and nutrition, detect cancer at its earliest stages and provide access to quality care, including participation in clinical trials.
“As a Gold Standard employer, you are sending a strong message to your employees each and every day: We care about your health. I hope you take great pride in that,” said Martin Murphy Jr., Ph.D., CEO of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer.
VUMC banned smoking from the Medical Center campus in October 2008, provides free access to the HealthPlus fitness facility for eligible staff members, offers more healthy food options in the food courts and encourages staff to engage in exercise through activities like the Start! walking program.
VUMC joins 90 other medical centers, health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical societies, charitable organizations and private businesses in the effort to empower their staff members to take control of their own health.