UPMC and UPMC Health Plan Receive Business Group on Health’s “Best Employers Award for Excellence in Health & Well-being”

Pittsburgh (April 19, 2022) – The prestigious Business Group on Health today announced that UPMC and UPMC Health Plan are among the elite list of 44 large employers to receive the Best Employers: Excellence in Health & Well-being Award for outstanding commitment to advancing employee well-being through comprehensive and innovative benefits and initiatives.

The awards, now in their 17th year, were announced today in Nashville at the Business Group’s 2022 Annual Conference, organized around the theme “Collaborating on the Future of Health and Well-being.”

“We have seen continuous improvement in the results for our programs and every year our overall numbers for employees who are considered at ‘low risk for serious health consequences’ increases,” said John Galley, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for UPMC. “Evaluating our outcomes-based measures and rewards is an important step for us in evolving our program to drive favorable trends in population health management. As a result, our employees are seeing a better quality of life at work and at home and the result is an overall healthier workforce.”

The award reflects UPMC and UPMC Health Plan’s ongoing commitment to results-driven approaches to supporting and promoting the health, well-being and equity for patients, members and employees. Specifically, UPMC and UPMC Health Plan were recognized for their innovative Cares Cart, Find Your Fitness and Road to Resilience programs.

In 2021, UPMC and UPMC Health Plan launched the Cares Cart program to provide greater support for the physical, mental and emotional health of clinical employees, especially those impacted by. UPMC Health Coaches and other volunteers began making their rounds at many UPMC hospitals armed with the Cares Cart. Circulated by UPMC Health Coaches and other volunteers during rounds at UPMC hospitals, the Cares Cart brings a much-needed break, some cheer, relevant health, wellness information and even healthy snacks to busy departments throughout the hospitals. These short visits are meant to acknowledge the dedication and sacrifice the front-line workers display every day and provide them a moment of self-care.

The UPMC MyHealth Wellness Department created two additional campaigns to encourage UPMC health care employees to take simple steps to prioritize their own physical and mental health at a time when the COVID-19 public health emergency was creating tremendous strain on health care systems and workers. ‘Find Your Fitness’ educates, supports and challenges participants as they become more physically active. The program encourages employees to explore a different component of physical activity to add to their daily routine: cardio, strength, flexibility, and balance. And ‘Road to Resilience’ is a campaign that teaches self-care, stress management and resilience skills.

Ellen Kelsay, Business Group on Health CEO and president, said, “UPMC and UPMC Health Plan have demonstrated a strong commitment to employee well-being, all against the backdrop of a pandemic and a parallel mental health crisis.”

The Business Group reimagined the award criteria for 2022 to reflect a global perspective and to integrate and honor the importance of health equity and the employee experience. The criteria continue to focus on leadership and culture; holistic well-being approaches, including mental health, financial security, physical health, social connectedness, and job satisfaction; and metrics and evaluation.

The 2022 winners represent a wide array of industries, including banking/financial services, entertainment and hospitality, health care, manufacturing, professional services, technology, and utilities, among others. All the winners have a well-being strategy with measurable objectives and incorporate principles of diversity, equity and inclusion into their health and well-being efforts.

“All the winners are employers of choice,” said LuAnn Heinen, vice president of the Business Group, who leads the Well-being & Workforce Strategy Institute. “We congratulate each and every one of them for setting such high standards, to benefit workforces for years to come, and for serving as a model for other companies looking to expand benefit offerings.”

View a full list of winners.

Applicants for the Best Employers Award do not have to be members of the Business Group. Entries are reviewed by a panel of peer employer judges. Applications for the 2023 Best Employers Awards will be accepted in fall 2022.

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About Business Group on Health

Business Group on Health is the leading non-profit organization representing large employers’ perspectives on optimizing workforce strategy through innovative health, benefits and well-being solutions and on health policy issues. The Business Group keeps its membership informed of leading-edge thinking and action on health care cost and delivery, financing, affordability and experience with the health care system. Business Group members include 72 Fortune 100 companies as well as large public-sector employers, who collectively provide health and well-being programs for more than 60 million individuals in 200 countries. For more information, visit businessgrouphealth.org.

About UPMC

A $24 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 800 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, and a 4.1-million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.7 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region’s most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid more than $900 million in federal, state, and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial, and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside among the nation’s best hospitals in many specialties and ranks UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on its Honor Roll of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.