Gift to program will improve wellness at work and home

Pinnacol Assurance, Colorado’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, has formed a partnership with the Colorado School of Public Health to develop a program designed to improve the health of Colorado businesses, workers and their families. The partnership includes a gift of $500,000 for the first year of what is expected to be a multi-year program.

The Colorado Health Links program will be located in the school’s new Center for Worker Health and Environment, currently in development. The new program and its home center will leverage the school’s existing expertise in wellness and workplace safety, alongside its established relationship with Pinnacol Assurance.

“Pinnacol Assurance is proud to partner with the Colorado School of Public Health to develop Colorado Health Links,” states Jeff Tetrick, Chief Financial Officer, Pinnacol Assurance. “The program’s goal, to improve the health and economic well-being of Colorado businesses, workers and their families by enhancing wellness at work and home, aligns with Pinnacol’s existing efforts to improve worksite wellness through our Health Risk Management (HRM) pilot study.”

Pinnacol Assurance launched the HRM in 2010. With technical assistance from Colorado School of Public Health Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Lee Newman, M.D., the school is helping the insurer evaluate changes in workers’ compensation costs, changes in productivity, and health of employees. The new workplace program is a continuation of Pinnacol’s partnership with the Colorado School of Public Health, and is expected to bring added value to the insurer’s policy holders and broader Colorado workforce.

"With this gift, Pinnacol Assurance has taken another proactive step to improve the health of Coloradans,” Newman said. “With this support, and with the help of our community partners and small businesses, the program will determine the most practical ways of improving the health of workers and their families. The program will also establish how worksite wellness benefits the Colorado economy. We thank Pinnacol Assurance for its commitment to workplace health and safety and the unique partnership with the Colorado School of Public Health."

Said Tetrick, “We believe this partnership will help develop solutions that result in a stronger economy, healthier communities and a more productive workforce.”

To learn more about the Health Risk Management Program, visit Pinnacol Assurance, http://www.pinnacol.com/employer/health-risk-management/. To learn more about the Colorado School of Public Health’s worker health and safety programs, visit the Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center, http://maperc.ucdenver.edu.