Berlin, Md.
– This year, AGH has been recognized with a Best in Benefits Award for providing
their associates with superior benefits packages among employers in the
mid-Atlantic region. Milliman, one of the world’s largest providers
of actuarial products and services and the company that bestows the award,
calculates the benefit value and cost to the employee of each company
plan, and then ranks the companies by lowest cost-highest benefit. Only
ten employers in the mid-Atlantic region received the award for 2017.
This isn’t the first time Atlantic General Hospital has been recognized
for the benefits it provides to its associates. AGH received the 2016
and 2017 Wellness at Work gold tier award from Maryland’s Healthiest
Businesses for the quality of its employee wellness program and the employee
assistance benefits offered to associates.
AGH employee health and wellness nurse, Tracey Mullineaux, said, “Because
we’re a hospital, we care deeply about wellness and the health of
our associates. We recognized that if we had a healthy, productive workforce,
we could give the care and support that our patients need. The healthier
we are, the more productive we are, and the less absenteeism there is.”
With this in mind, AGH created the Associates Getting Healthy wellness
program in 2013. This program was implemented with the goals of providing
opportunities for the associates to improve their health and wellbeing
and control the high cost of providing health benefits. Those goals were
achieved and results in creating a culture at AGH that helped associates
begin or enhance a healthier lifestyle.
A case study was performed by Business Health Services (BHS), Atlantic
General’s wellness program partner that delved into how the hospital
prioritizes wellness for its employees.
Since beginning the wellness program, there has been a marked improvement
in employee health at AGH. Overall, 82 percent of associates participating
in the wellness program are in a low to moderate blood pressure risk.
For body mass index (BMI), a standard measurement used to determine overweight
and obesity, 52% of participants are in a low to moderate risk category,
with 16 having moved out of the high risk category. Additionally, medical
claims were 20% lower than expected in 2016 and thus far in 2017.
“We’re not only providing competitive benefits to our employees,
we’re promoting a healthier lifestyle,” said Jim Brannon,
director of human resources at Atlantic General Hospital. “Our associates’
wellness successes are testament to that.”
About Atlantic General Hospital
Atlantic General Hospital has been providing quality health care to the
residents of Worcester, Wicomico, Somerset (Md.) and Sussex (Del.) counties
since May 1993. Built by the commitment and generosity of a dedicated
community, the hospital’s state-of-the-art facility in Berlin, Md.,
combines old-fashioned personal attention with the latest in technology
and services. It provides quality specialty care such as weight loss surgery,
orthopedics, outpatient infusion and chemotherapy for individuals with
cancer or blood/autoimmune disorders, and a comprehensive women’s
diagnostic center. Atlantic General Health System, its network of more
than 40 primary care providers and specialists, care for residents and
visitors throughout the region. For more information about Atlantic General
Hospital, visit
www.atlanticgeneral.org.
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