Patrick J. Geraghty

Patrick J. Geraghty, president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, is the recipient of the 2011 Corporate Impact Award: CEO of the Year - Excellence in Leadership and Impact.

Geraghty is being honored for being a catalyst and decision maker regarding employee health and wellness issues, as well as for giving amply of his time and leadership skills and for encouraging his employee base and clients to actively support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is the state’s largest health plan, serving 2.7 million members in every statewide county, all 50 states and four continents, and reflecting membership among approximately 33 percent of all state residents.

Under Geraghty’s guidance to help people stay well, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota became the second Minnesota-based company to achieve the prestigious CEO Gold Standard for improving health and reducing the risk of cancer in the workplace – through tobacco-free environments, campus walking paths, on-site fitness facilities, healthy cafeteria choices and community gardens, where employees can grow their own vegetables. In addition, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is one of only 60 companies nationally that have received the Gold Standard recognition since its inception in 2006.

Geraghty has led the company to identify colorectal cancer as a corporate priority for the next three years and is spearheading the organization’s working relationship with physician groups in Minnesota to increase screening rates with large clinic systems. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota also is implementing comprehensive communications outreach with its health insurance plan members about the importance of colorectal cancer screening and the available options.

With Geraghty leading the charge, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has also maintained a strong collaborative relationship with the American Cancer Society in advocating for public policy changes focused on improving public health. The company has pushed to protect the Freedom to Breathe Act, to educate policy makers on the health implications of tobacco use and secondhand smoke, and to advance public policy changes that seek to reduce the levels of childhood obesity in Minnesota. In addition, Geraghty and his leadership team have worked with the Society to advocate in support of preserving the Statewide Health Improvement Plan.

 

State Farm Insurance

State Farm Insurance is the recipient of the 2011 Corporate Impact Award: Award of Excellence. Within this year’s Corporate Impact Awards Series, State Farm’s is the highest such company commendation presented by the Society.

State Farm is being honored for its leadership in corporate and employee giving; for customer engagement and volunteerism; for having demonstrated a commitment to employee health and wellness benefits, policies, programs, and promotion; and for its senior leadership’s support of American Cancer Society initiatives and volunteer opportunities.

With more than 80 million insurance policies in place across the United States and Canada, Bloomington, Illinois-headquartered State Farm Insurance has been the number one auto insurer in the United States since 1942, and it has held the same distinction in the home insurance market since the 1960s.

In 2008, State Farm elected to offer its employees the phone-based smoking cessation counseling service now known as the American Cancer Society Quit For Life^® Program, managed and operated by Alere Wellbeing. State Farm’s employee participation rate has become one of the highest among all companies using the service.

To further address the health care burden of smoking, State Farm implemented a smoke-free policy on all company properties nationwide in 2010.

Three years ago, State Farm joined the American Cancer Society Relay For Life^® National Team Program, and in 2010, the company had assembled in excess of 200 teams nationally, encompassing more than 1,800 participants among employees, families, and friends. As a result, State Farm has contributed more than $540,000 annually to the American Cancer Society’s fight for every birthday in every community.

 

The Children's Hospital - Denver

The Children’s Hospital - Denver is the recipient of the 2011 Corporate Impact Award: Excellence in Cancer Control.

Located in the Denver, Colorado, suburb of Aurora, The Children’s Hospital was ranked among the top five nationally in the U.S. News & World Report 2011-12 edition of Best Children’s Hospitals. The facility is being honored for providing health information, programs, and benefits that address specific cancer prevention behaviors, and for tracking and reporting on employee health, participation, and outcomes.

Reflective of American Cancer Society guidelines on nutrition and physical activity and its goals for tobacco use reduction, The Children’s Hospital offers numerous related benefits to its employees.

Among The Children’s Hospital-provided healthy lifestyle benefits are: membership in a Denver-area Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Hospital Forum, in which local professionals meet to discuss related business policies and issues; Weight Watcher programs and other nutrition and weight loss counseling; hospital cafeteria healthy alternative menu options; information on reading food labels and healthy grocery store choices; on-site yoga; and on-site locker rooms/showers for bicycle-commuting employees.

Employee cancer screening benefits include 100 percent health insurance cost coverage for all preventive care screenings, including those for early cancer detection; free, on-site biometric screening services; mobile mammography testing service; regular employee communications for all offered screening opportunities; wellness coach access, accepted by 72 percent of hospital employees; coverage for cost of cancer vaccines; and online links to the American Cancer Society and other health organization information.

Clinical trials benefits range from health insurance coverage at a cost-sharing level that does not present a financial challenge to employees; a guarantee that clinical trial participation does not disqualify employees from other health insurance benefits available to non-trial-participating employees; and complete employee access to quality regional cancer treatment facilities.

Employees and their family members receive free tobacco cessation products and services, including the American Cancer Society Quit For Life^® Program, operated and managed by Alere Wellbeing. Additionally, a cost-incentive program requires employees to self-disclose tobacco usage and be assessed a $50 per month fee – refundable, along with employee-paid premiums, upon completion of any tobacco cessation program.

 

Curves International

Curves International is the recipient of the 2011 Corporate Impact Award: Excellence in Employee Engagement.

Waco, Texas-based Curves International, the world’s largest fitness franchise, offers one-stop, affordable fitness and nutrition solutions for women in thousands of locations across the United States and nearly 85 other countries. The company is being honored for its demonstration of outstanding volunteerism in support of the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission.

Despite a year (2010) in which Curves International faced one of the most challenging times in its 15-year history, company franchisees and members fueled a slight increase in measurable engagement with the Society. Faced with a shrinking number of Curves health clubs – from approximately 10,000 locations to half that number, company leaders anticipated that corporate involvement with the Society might mirror that 50 percent reduction.

However, through its participation with the American Cancer Society Relay For Life^® and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer^® National Team Programs, Curves’ employee and volunteer numbers increased to more than 10,600 and 1,050 teams, and they raised in excess of $1.72 million for the American Cancer Society.

From Curves International’s senior-most executive leadership positions, the company strategically coordinates and communicates, internally and externally, its commitment to the American Cancer Society’s mission. Company Internet and Intranet site home pages include Society references, and during the seasons for Relay For Life and Making Strides events, Curves’ volunteer leaders systematically deliver outreach messages of encouragement to franchisees and club members. And, to underscore its company commitment, American Cancer Society leaders are included as regular participants at Curves’ annual convention.

 

Toyota Motor Sales, USA

Toyota Motor Sales, USA is the recipient of the 2011 Corporate Impact Award: Excellence in Employee Giving.

Japanese automaker Toyota has enjoyed a United States operational base (Torrance, California) for more than 50 years and ranks as one of the country’s leading sellers of cars. Toyota Motor Sales, USA is being honored for providing its employees the opportunity to support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission through an employee giving campaign that embodies best practices, varied employee giving options, and recognition of donors and volunteers.

In 2010, Toyota Motor Sales, USA’s nationwide employee giving campaign raised a company record-$3.1 million for strategically highlighted charities, which included the American Cancer Society. The company, which saw employee participation reach a record-61 percent last year, has also seen the number of contributing employees increase every year since the program’s inception.

Through the company’s 50 percent matching gift initiative, Toyota Motor Sales, USA and its employees contributed more than $500,000 to the American Cancer Society in 2010.

Toyota Motor Sales USA’s employee giving program features a comprehensive online component; rotates annual campaign leadership to increase employee engagement and energy; employs creative department  and division activities to enliven the campaign; recognizes leading employee contributors; hosts on-site donation kiosks, where employees learn more about the highlighted charities’ work; encourages American Cancer Society-engaged cancer survivors to interact with employees about the Society’s ongoing mission; and regularly communicates messaging about the company’s strategic choice giving campaigns.

 

Magellan Health Services

Magellan Health Services is the recipient of the 2011 Corporate Impact Award: Excellence in Tobacco Control.

Headquartered in Avon, Connecticut, Magellan is a leading specialty health care management company within the private and governmental sectors. The company is being honored for implementing a companywide smoke-free policy in all U.S. worksites, and for offering employees access to a tobacco prevention/cessation program with all barriers, including employee out-of-pocket expense, having been removed.

Magellan originally engaged with the American Cancer Society in 2009, and the following year it implemented the Society’s recommendations for a tobacco-free workplace policy among all of its owned or leased facilities.

All Magellan employees received policy training, and they have constant access to the initiative’s guidelines via the company’s Intranet site, which includes information about the American Cancer Society Quit For Life^® Program tobacco cessation benefit, operated and managed by Alere Wellbeing, and outside assistance resources such as the Society’s comprehensive cache of online information.

For Magellan employees and their dependents, Quit For Life counseling is available at no charge. Through a variety of communications tools, including newsletters, annual benefits enrollment periods, break room and cafeteria posters, etc., the company regularly promotes Quit For Life benefits and all national anti-smoking events.