Digital Edition of Presby Bulletin - 11/27/2015

Volume 10

Issue 23

November 27, 2015

PRESBYbulletin Penn Presbyterian Medical Center

Penn Medicine Military Friendly® Employer Spreading Some Good Will this Holiday Season? We Want to Know!

If you are sharing your time, talents and support with the community and/or Penn Medicine this Holiday season, please email your activities – and photo(s) – to the Penn Medicine Department of Communications at pennmedicinecommunications@ uphs.upenn.edu by December 21.

We may feature you in an upcoming issue in one of our newsletters or in in a news blog post!

Penn Medicine has earned the 2016 Military Friendl Employer designation by Victory Friendly® Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs® and Military Spouse.

Companies competed for the elite Military Friendly® Employer title by completing a data-driven survey. Criteria for the survey included a benchmark score across key programs and policies, such as the strength of company military recruiting efforts, percentage of new hires with prior military service, retention programs for veterans, and company policies on National Guard and Reserve service.

Earlier this month, Penn Medicine recognized its employees who served their country and have taken up a new mission, caring for our patients.

Everyone is encouraged to share stories of military service and recognize colleagues who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces with the hashtag #CombatToCare.

“I was deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005 as part of the 109th Field Artillery from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard,” wrote Army veteran Neil Ravitz, assistant executive director, PPMC. “I spent three months in Baghdad and then nine months at an operating base (continued on back)

Penn Medicine Military Friendly® Employer (continued from front)

near Baqubah serving as a platoon leader and the Executive officer for a 124-person battery. Our role during the deployment included doing police station monitoring, convoy security, base security, and detainee protection.”

To see more stories shared by your colleagues, visit pennmedicine.org/ combattocare.

SAVE THE DATE: MARCH 18, 2016 The Board of Trustees, Administration, and Faculty invite you to the 15th annual Penn Presbyterian Medical Center gala! Join us for food, dancing, high spirits and a silent auction. Stay tuned to future issues of the Presby Bulletin for information on purchasing tickets and more details on the event’s theme and entertainment.

Foundation Fighting Blindness VisionWalk Raises Crucial Funds to Aid in Research to Cure Inherited Blinding Diseases Many thanks to the Penn Medicine volunteers who attended the FFB VisionWalk last month! Together, the more than 170 members of the Penn team raised over $10,000 to fund sight-saving research. In total, more than 500 patients, families, including young children with retinal diseases, were in attendance!

Since 2006, the FFB VisionWalk, a familyfriendly 2-mile walk through Old City has raised over $37 million to fund research to aid the 10 million people in the U.S. affected by inherited forms of blindness such as retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases.

As promising treatments move into critical human studies, the need for research funding is greater than ever. In Philadelphia, Penn Medicine is at the forefront of treatments for these diseases. Penn researchers recently announced the success of the first-ever gene therapy trial to cure the inherited retinal degeneration knows as Lebers Congenital Amorosis (LCA), thanks in part to funds provided by FFB.

Congratulations to the Winners of the 20142015 Healthy Rewards Leadership Event The 2014-2015 Healthy Rewards program year ended successfully in April with over 6,000 employees participating in the program. The program has four levels, each offering a different incentive with the opportunity to earn up to $200, win a Fitbit, and win a recognition event with leadership. Throughout the year, the program offered many different activities. A few of the program highlights were the Wellfocused Walk-Off, Re-Think Your Drink Campaign, and a fun Summer Grilling Throw Down recipe challenge in which the winners recipes were featured in the hospital café’s.

Congratulations to the winners of the Leadership Recognition Event. The 25 winners were entered in to a raffle for reaching 6,000 points in the program and are receiving special recognition and prizes.

Thank you to all who participate in the Healthy Rewards Program and for choosing to live a lifestyle that promotes better health and well-being. The better care we take of ourselves, the better we will be able to care for patients, our families, and the community.

It’s never too late to start participating in the Healthy Rewards Program for the 2015-2016 program year! The more activities you participate in, the more points you accumulate, and the more incentives you can earn! Log in today at www.pennmedicine.limeade.com to join in on the fun!

Contact Us: Katie Delach | katie.delach@uphs.upenn.edu | http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/presbybulletin/