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KVC Kentucky

KVC Kentucky Announces Bluegrass Wellness at Work Award Winners

LEXINGTON, KY—The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Clark Material Handling, and Radio Eye took top honors in nonprofit organization KVC Behavioral HealthCare Kentucky’s 3rd Annual Bluegrass Wellness at Work Fitness Challenge. During this year’s award ceremony, held at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, thirteen companies and organizations were recognized for their commitment to employee wellness.

Bluegrass Wellness at Work is a competition for Lexington-area
companies to improve employee health using a custom smartphone app. Proceeds from the program benefit Kentucky children and families
receiving mental and behavioral healthcare services, including foster care. The program incorporates two challenges: a 7-week fitness challenge and Healthiest Places to Work recognition. Companies of similar size competed against eachother in the fitness challenge in one of three categories; Small (under 25 employees), Medium (25-99), and Large (100 or more). Employees used the BWAW App to input and track their activity, receiving 1 point for every 15 minutes of exercise recorded. At the end of the competition, there were nine teams who rose above the rest, taking home first, second and third place in each size category (see below for full list of winners).

IMG_3338“Bluegrass Wellness at Work has been an excellent program since its beginning three years ago,” explains Ruben Perez, Workplace Wellness Coordinator for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, the 2015 winner in the Large company category. He continues, “We have participated every year because this is a program that helps participants work on their fitness level and gives our agency the opportunity to unite our workforce as a team with a common goal. It allows us to work on team-building and improve the morale of our employees. They look forward to competing in the challenge against other companies and we have improved every year we have participated. This is a great program for a great cause and we encourage more agencies and companies to participate next year.”

Another popular component of the Wellness Challenge is the Healthiest Places to Work Recognition. Every company who participates in Bluegrass Wellness at Work has the opportunity to receive recognition for their commitments to workplace wellness through a survey and description of organizational commitments that have been made either during the challenge or throughout the year. Companies and organizations can qualify for Platinum, Gold or Silver level recognition based on their companies efforts toward employee wellness. Platinum level awardees for 2015 are Assured Neace Lukens, Central Bank, Clark Material Handling, Commonwealth Eye Surgery, Frost Brown Todd, Gray Construction, KC Wellness, Kentucky Bank, KVC Kentucky, and the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. 2015 Silver level awardees are United Way of the Bluegrass and Radio Eye. There were no 2015 Gold level awards.

IMG_3351This year, a new award for workplace wellness innovation, The Wellness Innovator, was given to companies for using a creative approach in involving employees in wellness throughout the year. The 2015 Wellness Innovator Award was awarded to United Way of the Bluegrass for their commitments to new experiences for their employees. Throughout the challenge, United Way of the Bluegrass offered a variety of on-site Zumba, Yoga, and Kettlebell classes and plan to continue with the weekly yoga class throughout the year. They also partnered with a local fitness nonprofit, Urban Ninja Project, for a wellness teamwork event where they invited staff to take on the obstacles as a team.

The Bluegrass Wellness at Work initiative seeks to recognize Lexington area businesses going the extra mile to create healthy employees and a healthier work environment. Congratulations to the organizations recognized as 2015 Bluegrass Wellness at Work winners!

IMG_33452015 Bluegrass Wellness at Work Fitness Challenge Winners: 

Large Companies (100+ Employees) 

1. Lexington-Fayette County Health Department

2. Gray Construction

3. KVC Kentucky

Medium Companies (25-99 Employees) 

1. Clark Material Handling

2. Commonwealth Eye Surgery

3. Kentucky Bank Support Staff

Small Companies (Less then 25 Employees) 

1. Radio Eye

2. KC Wellness

3. Drayer Physical Therapy

To learn more about the Bluegrass Wellness at Work’s Fitness Challenge and Healthiest Place to Work Awards., visit bluegrasswellnessatwork.org.

ABOUT KVC KENTUCKY 

KVC Kentucky, headquartered in Lexington, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit child welfare and behavioral healthcare organization that provides behavioral health services, foster care, family preservation and diversion, and other family-related services. KVC’s services are in-home, strengths-based, and driven by a focus on the safety, permanency, and wellbeing of the child and family. Each year, KVC Kentucky serves more than 10,000 children and families in eight regions of the state. The organization is a subsidiary of KVC Health Systems which directly touches the lives of over 50,000 children each day across the U.S. Learn more at www.kvckentucky.org.