Memorial Hospital of Union County was one of two Ohio hospitals to receive first-ever awards presented at the 2012 Ohio Hospital Health & Wellness Promotion Conference. Memorial Hospital received the Community Champion Award from the Foundation for Healthy Communities of the Ohio Hospital Association“It is great to see the hard work of so many employees recognized,” comments Chip Hubbs, President/CEO at Memorial. “Deb Stubbs, Rebecca Wilder, and the Health Center staff especially, have done an excellent job extending programs into the community. Our physicians and staff are dedicated to fulfilling the wellness portion of our mission, helping our community members live healthy lives and adopt healthy lifestyle habits.”
The Community Champion Award recognizes an Ohio hospital or health system that demonstrates leadership in improving the health of its community through outreach and wellness promotion. Memorial Hospital has expanded on more than 13 years of wellness programming with hospital employees to anchor efforts of the Union County Chamber of Commerce Wellness Consortium. One of the hospital’s key projects aims to reduce childhood obesity by training high school students to teach and motivate elementary students to eat more fruits, vegetables and dairy products, drink more water, minimize time in front of a computer or television screen, and increase physical activity. Now in its fourth year, the 5-4-3-2-1 Go! program has shown progressively better results in each category every year. Memorial Hospital has also worked with seven local fire departments to improve firefighters’ physical fitness and reduce risks of work-related injuries.
Award recipients were chosen by the Foundation for Healthy Communities Board following independent review of more than two dozen nominations by executives who volunteered from academic, business, health, medical, and nonprofit organizations.
