The Saint Barnabas Health Care
System has received CEO Cancer
Gold Standard accreditation. This
prestigious designation recognizes
the System for its commitment to
taking concrete actions to reduce the
cancer risk of its employees and
their families.
“We are exceptionally pleased that our major efforts to
improve the health and wellness of our employees
and their
families through a wealth of programs have been
recognized
by this preeminent organization,” stated Ronald J. Del
Mauro, SBHCS CEO. “The CEO Gold Standard designation
signifies to all that we are very concerned with
protecting
against cancer those we employ and those for whom
we
provide care. Creating and maintaining a culture
that
encourages healthy lifestyles is an excellent way
to
demonstrate how greatly we value our employees.”
The CEO Gold Standard was created by the
CEO
Roundtable on Cancer--a nonprofit organization
of CEOs
devoted to fighting cancer--in collaboration with
the
National Cancer Institute, many of its designated
cancer
centers, and leading health non-profit organizations
and
professionals. Today, more than one million employees
and
family members are benefiting from the vision and
leadership of employers who have chosen to become
Gold
Standard accredited. The goal is to increase the
number to
three million in 2010.
The CEO Cancer Gold Standard calls for
companies to
evaluate their health benefits and corporate culture
and take
extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of
health and
wellness to fight cancer in the workplace. To earn
Gold
Standard accreditation, a company must establish
programs
to reduce cancer risk by discouraging 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.
SBHCS met
each of these five criteria.
In what is considered one of the most difficult
criteria to
accomplish, on November 19, 2009, the northern
region of
the System became smoke-free, joining its hospitals
and
health care facilities in the southern region,
which became
smoke-free in 2008. Building on a ten-year tobacco
treatment program consisting of individual tobacco
assessments, individualized treatment plans by
certified
tobacco treatment specialists, and 8-week quit
programs,
with harmacotherapy and nicotine replacement therapies,
a
free comprehensive program was made available to
all
employees and family members. The two quit centers
are
funded by the New Jersey Department of Health and
Senior
Services, Division of Family Health Services.
“As health care providers, it is not only desirable but it is
essential that we make every possible effort to protect and maintain
the health and wellness of our employees and physicians
and the
patients and families we serve,” stated Fred M. Jacobs, M.D.,
J.D.,
SBHCS Executive Vice President, Director of the
Saint Barnabas
Quality Institute, and former New Jersey Commissioner
of Health
and Senior Services.
In becoming a CEO Gold Standard organization, the
Saint Barnabas
System is in excellent company with nearly 50 leading
organization
members among which are Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,
Duke
Medicine, Fox Chase Cancer Center, GlaxoSmithKline,
Johnson &
Johnson, Anderson Cancer Center, The National Cancer
Institute,
Novartis and Pfizer.
The American Cancer Society Eastern Division has
honored the
Saint Barnabas Health Care System by inviting Dr.
Jacobs and
Connie Greene, Vice President of the Saint Barnabas
Institute for
Prevention, to present a Corporate Wellness Case
Study at its Board
meeting on March 10.
“We are truly honored to have this opportunity to share our blueprint
for achieving this widely respected recognition,” said Ms. Greene.
“We believe our experiences over the past several years in creating
the initiatives necessary to successfully reach
our goal will be
enlightening to those who have not had hands-on
experience
themselves.”
Date: February 2010
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