Berkshire Health Systems Named a 2018 WWCMA WorkWell Massachusetts

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems and its Wellness at Work program have been named a WorkWell Massachusetts Award Program Gold Level winner for exemplary worksite health promotion for the fourth straight year.

The award recognizes Berkshire Health System's achievements developing, implementing and participating in corporate health improvement and wellness programs. BHS is one out of six Gold Level award recipients for 2018, and is the only organization to have received a Gold Level award each of the four years of the program.

Committed to the health and well-being of the entire Berkshire community, the BHS Wellness at Work team works with local employers as a partner to develop and implement a wellness program that best addresses the individual company's needs and budget.


"There is no one size fits all or one generic website that can help create real change; those approaches have been proven to be ineffective. We know what works because we have been developing and analyzing wellness programs for over 15 years," said Maureen Logan-Daniels, BHS' director of Wellness and Community Health. "It all started with our commitment to wellness for our 4,000 employees at BHS and the development of an award-winning, but most importantly, life-changing wellness program."

"We are proud to recognize these innovative Massachusetts employers for their outstanding wellness programs," said Kristie Howard, chairwoman of the WWCMA Board of Directors. "The WorkWell Massachusetts Award is an important program put forth to honor the work being done by employers in our state to improve the health and vitality of our communities."

WorkWell Massachusetts is a corporate award program created by the Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts, a not-for-profit member organization dedicated to the advancement of worksite wellness programs. The award program's criteria are based on the HERO Employee Health Management Best Practices Scorecard, in collaboration with Mercer, a tool designed to help organizations learn about best practices, discover opportunities to improve their programs, and measure progress over time. Applicants are required to provide details on their strategic planning and organizational support, program design and implementation, participant engagement, and measurements and evaluation, and applications were reviewed and designated by a WWCMA appointed committee of industry professionals. Information on WWCMA and the award program can be found online.


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Toy Library Installed at Onota Lake

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Feel free to use or leave a toy at Onota Lake's newest infrastructure meant to foster community and benefit kids.

Burbank Park now has a toy library thanks to Wahconah Regional High School senior Alexandra Bills. Located along the wall at the beach area, the green and blue structure features two shelves with sand toys that can be used to enhance children's visits.

The Parks Commission supported Bills' proposal in February as part of her National Honors Society individual service project and it was installed this month. Measuring about 4 feet wide and 5.8 feet tall, it was built by the student and her father with donated materials from a local lumber company.

Friends and family members provided toys to fill the library such as pails, shovels, Frisbees, and trucks.

"I wanted to create a toy library like the other examples in Berkshire County from the sled library to the book libraries," she told the commission in February.

"But I wanted to make it toys for Onota Lake because a lot of kids forget their toys or some kids can't afford toys."

Bills lives nearby and will check on the library weekly — if not daily — to ensure the operation is running smoothly.  A sign reading "Borrow-Play-Return" asks community members to clean up after themselves after using the toys.

It was built to accommodate children's heights and will be stored during the winter season.

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