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Michellene Davis, Sr. Vice President for Policy Development and Governmental Affairs, Darrell K. Terry, COO NBIMC, Barbara Mintz, AVP, Wellness NBIMC, Newark City Hall employee, 1ST place solo winner Tyrone Daye, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Dr. John A. Brennan, Executive Director NBIMC, Margarita Muñiz,, Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement, Margarita Nikki Neal, Newark City Hall site coordinator and public health educator.
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NEWARK, NJ – May 10, 2011- Today, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center’s (NBIMC), “The Beth Challenge,” weight loss program celebrated weight loss and healthy lifestyles with Newark City Hall employees, who combined, lost a total of 890 pounds. Mayor Cory Booker lost nearly 30 pounds. “The Newark Beth Challenge” began January 31, 2011. Today’s winners received gifts from $300 cash to free gym memberships.
The “Beth Challenge,” is a successful weight loss program and contest designed by NBIMC, and offered to municipal employees to reduce their weight, improve their health, and helps them to achieve healthy changes in their lifestyle. The three-part, 12-week Weight Loss and Fitness Challenge, which started in 2009, includes education and fitness training under the supervision of a registered dietitian/certified personal trainer from NBIMC.
The “Beth Challenge” includes one-on-one professional guidance on healthy food options and fitness, private weigh-ins and consultations, and a free 12-week gym membership for all participants. The classes and exercise programs are not held during working hours. Participants are given information about family diet and exercise plans. Other key partners in the initiative include the Newark YMCA and the Colosseum Gym.
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Dr. John A. Brennan, Executive Director, NBIMC, addresses the audience at Newark City Hall
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Obesity continues to plague this nation,” said John A. Brennan, M.D., Executive Director of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (NBIMC), which created “The Beth Challenge,” in 2009 to promote healthy lifestyles for employees of “The Beth” and to address issues of obesity. Our goal was to create a program that would help our hospital staff, our community, Newark and New Jersey, become a healthier place to live and work. Collectively, we have achieved extraordinary success – our partners and employees have lost nearly 10,000 pounds.”
 Mayor Booker was joined today by Council President Donald Payne and Newark City Hall employees.
Awards were presented to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place team members and solo members. In addition to team and solo winners, awards were also presented to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) to represent a positive change in their behavior by using the gym and making lifestyle changes.
According to Barbara Mintz, Assistant Vice President, overseeing wellness and nutrition at NBIMC since the program was created in 2009, the four participating groups; Clearview Baptist Church, Philomen Baptist Church, the city of Newark and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, have lost nearly 10,000 pounds. Another “Beth Challenge” is underway with state employees in Trenton, NJ. Ms. Mintz said she created the programs to address individual health and fitness goals and to add fun to the sometimes arduous process of weight loss.
In addition to addressing adult health and obesity, the “Beth Challenge,” also promotes healthy lifestyles for children. NBIMC has a partnership with Maple Avenue School in Newark, where they created a three-month health and wellness program that encourages students to achieve better health. First Lady Michelle Obama visited the school with her “Let’s Move” initiative and to show her support for the “Beth Challenge.”
For “The Beth Challenge,” contest winners are based on the greatest percentage of weight loss for an individual and/or group. Other goals for the contest are reduction in body fat, reduction in blood pressure or cholesterol.
Since the program was created, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has opened a state-of-the-art fitness center for employees and received the “Community Outreach Award for Reducing Healthcare Disparities’” from the New Jersey Hospital Association at their 92nd Annual Meeting, Awards and Luncheon. The award was presented for promoting creative community outreach in healthcare.
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, (NBIMC), a 673-bed regional care teaching hospital, provides comprehensive health care to its local communities. NBIMC has more than 800 physicians, 3,200 employees and 150 volunteers with over 300,000 outpatient visits and 25,000 admissions annually. NBMI is fifth in the nation in the number of heart transplants with better than expected outcomes, has the only lung transplant program in New Jersey, has the most comprehensive pediatric cardiac care program in the region and combined with their parent, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, is third in the nation for kidney transplants, by volume.
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Barbara Mintz, NBIMC, AVP of Wellness congratulates Newark City Hall Third Place Solo Winner Cameron Dayton.
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| Barbara Mintz, NBIMC, VP of Wellness congratulates Newark City Hall First Place Winner Tyrone Daye. |
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NBIMC’s Darrell K. Terry, COO and Dr. John A. Brennan, Executive Director congratulate Newark City Hall third place solo winner, Cameron Dayton.
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Date: May 10, 2011
Contact:
Tracy Munford
Public Relations
973-926-4398
862-236--166
TMunford@barnabashealth.org
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