Live Well Be Well, the health-care organization’s workplace-wellness program, serves 68,000 employees and 7,000 physicians throughout Northern California
Oakland, CA, September 7 2012 -- Kaiser Permanente Northern California has been named the healthiest employer among large Bay Area companies in a survey published jointly by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.
The distinction marks the second straight year that the publications have given top honors to Kaiser Permanente’s Live Well Be Well program, a workplace-wellness effort dedicated to promoting and enhancing the health and well-being of the health-care organization’s 68,000 employees and 7,000 physicians throughout Northern California. Last month, Kaiser Permanente was also named a healthiest employer by the Sacramento Business Journal for the second consecutive year.
Results of the San Francisco/Silicon Valley survey were announced today. Kaiser Permanente Northern California was No. 1 among companies with 5,000 or more employees.
“Being recognized as a ‘healthiest employer’ for a second straight year is a mark of our consistency in nurturing the health of our employees and physicians with as much enthusiasm as we do for our members,” said Gay Westfall, senior vice president for Human Resources, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. As the largest health-care provider in Northern California, we lead by example by giving our employees and physicians the tools and support they need to lead healthy lives and become ambassadors for good health.”
Live Well Be Well offers more than 250 services aimed at promoting and enhancing the health and well-being of employees and physicians. The program leverages Kaiser Permanente’s clinical excellence and health-promotion expertise to provide both on-site and online services, which include everything from preventive screening to wellness coaches, as well as walking/running programs and classes on cooking, weight-loss, and physical fitness.
“The key to enhancing health among any group is to make the healthy choice the easy choice,” said Margaret Lapiz, vice president for Strategy and Integration for The Permanente Medical Group. “Our model of health care is personalized, coordinated and technologically advanced. Through use of convenient online health tools and onsite programs, we provide a variety of choices to help motivate and engage our employees and physicians, so they can choose what’s best suited to them in their personal quest to live healthier, happier lives.”
The San Francisco/Silicon Valley survey ranked employers based on surveys filled out by employees at 67 nominated companies. The surveys were conducted jointly by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. To be eligible, companies had to operate in at least one of 12 counties in the greater Bay Area — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano or Sonoma.
Earlier this year, Kaiser Permanente Northern California’s Live Well Be Well program was honored with platinum certification in the 2012 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles awards presented by the National Business Group on Health. Kaiser Permanente is also a past recipient of the California Fit Business Award, which recognizes and celebrates innovations and excellence in creating a healthy workplace environment.
