Vermont Business Magazine Don George, President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, has been honored by the American Heart Association (AHA) for helping improve the health and wellness of Vermonters and Vermont businesses through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s (BCBSVT) Accountable Blue program. George received the Go Red for Women Crystal Heart Award at the Association’s annual Go Red For Women Luncheon on Thursday, January 28. The award is presented annually to a Vermonter who is an advocate, volunteer and role model for improving the health of our community.
Accountable Blue is an innovative health and wellness product that joins workplace health and wellness programs with all the elements of a vibrant and engaging workplace. The relationship between the conditions in which we live and work is a frequently overlooked risk factor for illness. Accountable Blue addresses this risk factor by fostering healthy organizations, combining health and wellness programs and people-focused workplace. The program drives workplace productivity and organizational performance while simultaneously improving individual health and well-being and controlling health care costs.
Accountable Blue began in 2010 with a few visionary BCBSVT customers, but has since grown to include more than 40 organizations and over 51,000 Vermonters. The companies in Accountable Blue have all made leadership commitments to creating healthy organizations. With funding, consulting and programming from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, the Accountable Blue groups have established wellness goals, provided financial incentives for participation, and launched customized wellness campaigns at their worksites. The program has improved preventive care use and significantly lowered health costs for participants.
George has transformed the culture at BCBSVT to integrate employee health and wellness into the organization’s core strategy. His commitment to employees’ health has resulted in a worksite wellness model that is truly holistic, focusing on the multiple dimensions of physical fitness, financial health, and stress management as well as spiritual and social wellbeing. Ninety-seven percent of BCBSVT employees set personal health and wellness goals and participate in activities that improve their personal health. Statewide, BCBSVT hosts, sponsors and participates in over 100 community events, staffing events with a “Blue Crew” made up of employee volunteers. George has also helped the American Heart Association’s Central Vermont Heart Walk gain momentum, tripling in size since 2014. “We are grateful for Don’s support of our mission,” says Andrew Holman, Senior Regional Director of the AHA. “He not only supports a team of BCBSVT employees who volunteer on the Go Red For Women leadership team, but he is also the first male Vermont Chapter Circle of Red supporter.” George and other BCBSVT employees participate in community health initiatives like the Vermont Corporate Cup Challenge and the Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival. He maintains a personal commitment to health and wellness through daily activities such as running and weight training.
George invited the 520 business leaders at the award ceremony to join BCBSVT in cultivating healthy workplaces to reduce health care expenditures, enhance organizational performance, drive business development and improve people’s lives. “Our best people strategies are also the best health care strategies,” said George, “and our battle with heart disease begins with the health and heart of our organizations.”
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is the State’s only Vermont-based, not-for-profit health plan, providing coverage for about 250,000 Vermonters. It employs about 400 Vermonters at its headquarters in Berlin, a branch office in South Burlington and its Information and Wellness Center in South Burlington’s Blue Mall, and offers group and individual health plans to Vermonters. More information about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is available on the Internet atwww.bcbsvt.com. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is an independent corporation operating under a license with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.
PHOTO:BCBSVT employees join Don George (front row, right) at the Go Red For Women Lunch at the Sheraton onJan. 28, 2016.