ECU Health has earned CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ re-accreditation for maintaining a strong commitment to the health of team members and satisfying the latest, comprehensive requirements of the Gold Standard™. This is ECU Health’s seventh year receiving re-accreditation after first becoming accredited in 2012.

“Fulfilling our mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina starts with leading by example,” said Scottie Gaskins, senior administrator of wellness, ECU Health. “As an employer and a health care system, we are equally committed to caring for our team members as we are our patients. Supporting our team members to engage in positive lifestyle choices contributes to their own well-being, reduces their risk for conditions like cancer and translates into them modeling those choices for their families, friends and patients. We love our team members and want them to feel loved and supported at work, not just when they become a patient.”

To earn Gold Standard™accreditation, an employer must take concrete actions to reduce the risk and burden of cancer, through the Gold Standard’s™ three main goals – risk reduction, early detection and quality care, including: prohibit tobacco use and support tobacco cessation efforts; promote physical activity, healthy nutrition and weight management; provide health insurance options that include detecting cancer at its earliest stages; access to quality care and participation in cancer clinical trials; promote employee awareness of these initiatives; support the needs of cancer survivors in the workplace.

ECU Health’s Wellness programming that supports this re-accreditation, includes:

• A tobacco-free workplace with financial incentive in our medical plan for team members and their dependents for working toward or living a tobacco-free lifestyle.
• Health risk assessments with incentives for participation.
• lifestyle coaching to educate and support team members to reduce risks, manage their condition, and access other wellness benefits.
• Counseling through our employee assistance program to reduce stress and learn positive coping.
• Nutrition assessments and counseling, coupled with cooking classes and a Healthy Food Environment policy to promote healthy eating at work and home.
• Discounts for weight loss, wellness centers and exercise programs.
• Cancer survivor exercise and nutrition programs.
• Cancer screenings covered on our ECU Health medical plan and easy access to most screenings at our ECU Health hospitals or clinics.
• Access to ECU Health Cancer Care teams and navigators for cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and support.
• Telephonic care management for those who need extra support.

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of CEOs, founded by former President George H.W. Bush, created the Gold Standard™ to recognize employers for taking exceptional health and wellness measures on behalf of their employees.

Media contact: Brian Wudkwych, 252-214-0782 or [email protected]

About The CEO Roundtable on Cancer

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, when President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to “do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families.” The CEOs responded by creating and encouraging the widespread adoption of the CEO Cancer Gold Standard, which calls for organizations to evaluate their health benefits and workplace culture and take extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of health and wellness to address cancer in the workplace. For more information on the CEO Cancer Gold Standard and the no-cost, web-based accreditation process, please visit www.CancerGoldStandard.org.