The Medical University of South Carolina achieves Excellence Recognition award for third year
March 23, 2016
For the third year in a row, The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) was recognized by the South Carolina Hospital Association’s (SCHA) Working Well initiative and Prevention Partners for achieving the Excellence Recognition. The Excellence Recognition is awarded for reaching the highest standards in workplace health and prevention. MUSC sustained this recognition by earning straight A’s in four modules of WorkHealthy America, a Prevention Partners initiative addressing tobacco use, physical activity, nutrition, and the overall culture around health and wellness. The Excellence Recognition honors MUSC’s commitment to employee health as demonstrated by its policies, programs and benefits to support employee health, optimize employee productivity, and integrate wellness into daily operations.
Thanks to Dr. Susan Johnson and her team in Health Promotion, MUSC joins only 10 other SC employers to achieve this prestigious national recognition. By serving as a Center of Excellence, the innovative and tireless efforts of Dr. Johnson, Suzan Whelan, and Debbie Petitpain lead and inspire their peers well beyond the borders of South Carolina. In MUSC’s own community, the team has built on the Working Well strategic principles, creating the Charleston Healthy Business Challenge. A true testament to mentoring and leading by example.
“MUSC sets a high bar in establishing and sustaining a workplace where employees can make healthy choices,” says Lindsey Bickers Bock, Strategic Coaching Senior Manager at Prevention Partners. “I applaud this great effort and the commitment of their leadership to create a culture of wellness.”
“Our mission is leading health innovation for the lives we touch,” says David Cole, M.D., FACS, president of MUSC. “MUSC employees are dedicated to helping our patients, our community and our employees achieve healthy communities by combining world class medical care and quality wellness programs. Recognizing the importance of health and wellness promotion supports the mission of MUSC, because we aim to foster collaboration across our enterprise that is health-focused and not just disease-focused.”
“I am proud of the MUSC team for this achievement who are focusing on not only delivering great care, but also living work place wellness every day!” says Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., CEO, MUSC Health and Vice President for Health Affairs.
“Since 2011, MUSC has partnered with SCHA’s Working Well program as a Center of Excellence and has been helping hospitals as well as other sectors of business and government create environments where physical activity, healthy eating and tobacco free living became the norm at work. MUSC is dedicated to promoting health and wellness in our community and our participation in Working Well is a great way for us to “lead by example” says Dr. Susan Johnson, Director of Health Promotion at MUSC.
Prevention Partners works with the SCHA’s Working Well initiative to engage corporate leaders and staff throughout SC to enhance and sustain employee wellness efforts. These efforts are generously funded through the Duke Endowment.
About MUSC
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the South. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care. MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and residents, and has nearly 13,000 employees, including approximately 1,500 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer in Charleston, the university and its affiliates have collective annual budgets in excess of $2.2 billion. MUSC operates a 750-bed medical center, which includes a nationally recognized Children’s Hospital, the Ashley River Tower (cardiovascular, digestive disease, and surgical oncology), Hollings Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute designated center) Level I Trauma Center, and Institute of Psychiatry. For more information on academic information or clinical services, visit musc.edu. For more information on hospital patient services, visit muschealth.org.
About Working Well
Working Well is a statewide strategy to improve workplace wellness policies, systems and environments around tobacco cessation, healthy nutrition and increased physical activity so the healthy choice is the easy choice for employees across South Carolina.
About Prevention Partners
The nonprofit Prevention Partners builds healthier communities through a suite of products that guide schools, workplaces, hospitals and clinics to address the leading causes of preventable disease: tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity and obesity.
