RWJBarnabas Health marks its 10-year anniversary as a CEO Cancer Gold Standard employer this year, having maintained its dedication and commitment to a high standard of excellence in cancer prevention, early detection and quality care for its employees and their families.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating our 10th year of being recognized by this preeminent organization for our continued efforts to improve the health and wellness of our employees and their families,” said Barry H. Ostrowsky, president and chief executive officer of RWJBarnabas Health. “In a year of unprecedented and significant challenges for our country and the healthcare community at large, the CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation signifies our steadfast commitment to our employees and their families’ health and well-being in protecting them against cancer and reducing the risk for other serious medical conditions.”
Employers across the country and from many industries are keenly aware of the positive impact they can have on health, their employees and controlling healthcare costs when they take steps to address cancer and other chronic diseases. More than 200 private, nonprofit and government employers have earned Gold Standard accreditation, including health and wellness influencers like the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of CEOs, created the Gold Standard to recognize employers for taking exceptional health and wellness measures on behalf of their employees and family members.
To earn Gold Standard accreditation, an employer must take concrete actions to reduce the risk and burden of cancer:
- 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; and
- support the needs of cancer survivors in the workplace.
Under its Let’s Be Healthy Together mission, RWJBarnabas has maintained a longstanding commitment to protecting the health of its employees and their families, including offering robust employee wellness and tobacco cessation programs. In addition, RWBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, provide patients integrated cancer care from screening to diagnosis to treatment and survivorship including the most advanced treatment options such as clinical trials, complex surgical procedures, and sophisticated radiation therapy techniques.