EAGAN, Minn., May 16, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Blue
Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
(Blue Cross) continues to be committed to the mission of making a
healthy difference in people's lives by focusing on the value of
corporate social responsibility and bold action. The 2017 "Moving
Health Forward" community report highlights five areas Blue Cross
has focused their attention to improve the lives of Minnesotans,
including:
Community:
- More than $20 million was
provided to community organizations aimed at advancing health
equity, increasing healthy eating and physical activity, and
reducing commercial tobacco use. More than 99 percent of these
dollars remained in Minnesota.
- Healthy Together Willmar established the Willmar Community
Table in 2017, which invited residents to break bread together at
community meals, providing them with an opportunity for collective,
collaborative problem solving and idea generation.
- Blue Cross attended more than 60 community-facing events and
drove more than 6,000 miles to connect with under-represented
populations and build relationships with multicultural
communities.
Health Equity:
- 300 employees attended events during our first Health Equity
Month in April 2017.
- The inaugural Patsy Riley Health Equity and Diversity Award was
launched to recognize internal champions and leaders in their
efforts to improve health equity for Minnesotans.
- Blue Cross' Community Outreach hosted Baby Shower Celebrations
and invested more than 212 volunteer hours to address some of the
social determinants of health that affect preterm and complicated
births.
Health Care:
- Nearly 50 employees trained as Health Literacy Ambassadors in
2017 to promote awareness of low health literacy and the use of
best practices for health literacy within Blue Cross.
- Approximately 7,000 people completed a prediabetes risk quiz as
the result of the public relations campaign "Reverse It;" which
raised awareness about the preventable and reversible condition of
prediabetes.
- More than 12,000 people have downloaded Blue Cross' new do.
App. The app promotes small steps towards a healthier you, wherever
you are in your journey.
Employees:
- The Virginia and Aurora
offices celebrated fifteen years on the Iron Range. They began with
145 employees and have since expanded to more than 500. Blue Cross
is now one of the largest employers in the area.
- The annual employee giving campaign, which includes a Blue
Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation match, raised
$1.13 million and benefited more than
650 nonprofits.
- Employees packed more than 25,000 backpacks with healthy
food for students in need.
Environment:
- One of the ways Blue Cross diverted over 292 tons of trash from
landfills in 2017 was by composting paper towels used in company
buildings.
- The community giving garden celebrated its 10th year
by donating more than 1,000 pounds of fresh produce grown on Blue
Cross grounds to local food shelves.
- In 2017, Blue Cross began donating organic food waste to a farm
for composting.
To see more of the many ways Blue Cross is committed to serving
the communities we live and work in, view the full community report
at: https://www.bluecrossmnreport.com/.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of Minnesota, with
headquarters in the St. Paul
suburb of Eagan, was chartered in
1933 as Minnesota's first health
plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to
promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health
services for the people of Minnesota. A nonprofit, taxable organization,
Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.9 million members in
Minnesota and nationally through
its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in
Chicago. Go to
bluecrossmn.com to learn more.
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SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota