ECA wins prestigious C. Everett Koop Wellness Award

ECA wins prestigious C. Everett Koop Wellness Award

by George Hohmann
Daily Mail Business Editor

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Energy Corporation of America has won a national honor for its wellness health improvement programs and its demonstrated medical cost reduction trends.

The company has received the C. Everett Koop National Health Award. The award is sponsored by The Health Project, former Surgeon General Koop's non-profit private-public consortium dedicated to the furtherance of better health in conjunction with lower medical costs. Other 2008 winners include IBM, The Dow Chemical Co., Vanderbilt University and Lincoln Industries.

John Mork, president of Energy Corporation of America, said in prepared remarks, "Our employees' health and wellness is of the utmost importance to us. We realized early on that investing in healthier lifestyles creates a more enjoyable, successful and ultimately profitable work environment for the entire ECA family."

"Rather than stand by and do nothing while watching their health care costs escalate out of control, these companies are getting to the very heart of the problem: unhealthy behaviors," said Carson Beadle, chairman and co-founder of The Health Project. "Individuals who have healthy behaviors also have fewer chronic diseases, reduced demand for health care services, and lower health care costs."

ECA is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Denver. The company has a regional office in Kanawha City. ECA said 95 percent of its 290 employees - and their spouses - participate in a comprehensive, well-integrated program designed to encourage healthful lifestyle choices and reduce health risk factors.

Last year ECA won the Wellness Councils of America's Platinum Award, the councils' highest distinction for workplace health improvement programs.

http://www.dailymail.com/Business/200808050257.