Adventist Health, a non-profit 23-hospital health system based in Roseville, California, has created a division to promote community well-being. The division’s first initiative launched in Walla Walla, Washington. The Well-Being Division will identify and affect root causes of well-being, as well as address needs of individuals, communities, and organizations. The division also aims to address well-being dimensions such as health, sense of purpose, security, and prosperity, with the ultimate goal of improving health and reducing overall health care costs.
The new Well-Being Division is an outgrowth of Adventist Health’s acquisition of Blue Zones in April 2020. Blue Zones seeks to help communities better manage people’s health. Ben Leedle, Blue Zones’ chief executive officer, is president of the new Adventist Health Well-Being Division.
Adventist Health is a faith-based, non-profit integrated health system serving more than 80 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii. Founded on Seventh-day Adventist heritage and values, Adventist Health provides care in hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, hospice agencies, and joint-venture retirement centers in both rural and urban communities. The division launch comes as Adventist Health moves forward with its 2030 strategic plan focusing on transitioning from a solely hospital-centered organization to a health company.
Blue Zones uses evidence-based ways to help people live longer, better lives. The company’s work is based on explorations and research done by founder and National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner, who identified “blue zones” regions around the world where people live extraordinarily long and/or happy lives. The work of Blue Zones in more than 50 communities across the United States has been credited with double-digit drops in well-being risk factors such as obesity and smoking, transforming lives, and achieving millions of dollars of savings in health care costs.
This was reported by Adventist Health on October 20, 2020.
Contact information: Adventist Health, ONE Adventist Health Way, Roseville, CA 95661; 916-406-0000; Website: https://www.adventisthealth.org/about-us/contact/
