With an eye on ultimately helping its employees make daily lifestyle decisions that are healthier and allow for fuller and more productive lives, Devereux is kicking off a campaign to stamp out tobacco use starting with the Great Devereux Smoke-out February 1st and 2nd.

The Smoke-out, which will be supplemented by smoking cessation resources, peer support groups and financial assistance for nicotine patches, is only one aspect of a multi-year program to encourage positive lifestyle changes. Throughout 2006, The Year of Preparation, other opportunities will be presented toward that end, including Maintain Don’t Gain, to combat obesity and obesity-related illnesses, and Walking Toward Wellness to encourage greater exercise frequency.

“Although we must all concern ourselves with the cost of our medical and prescription plans, we must concern ourselves more with what are some of the causes of the increases in these costs,” said Devereux president and CEO, Robert Kreider. “We need to take steps together to control future costs. One of the ways we can do this is to make daily lifestyle decisions that are healthier and which allow us to live fuller and more productive lives.”

These programs are not “quick fixes” or to be taken as such. The Smoke-out will be repeated in early 2007, deemed The Year of Positive Change, and the Maintain Don’t Gain and Walking Toward Wellness programs are expected to be integrated into normal employee initiatives. Research is currently underway to design a high-deductible health savings plan into which Devereux can contribute credits/dollars to be tied to staff’s active participation in wellness efforts and health management activities.

“The beauty of the plan is if you don’t need the dollars or credits, you can save them and these savings can be carried over from year to year (your account can grow) and they are transferable to other employers,” said Kreider. “It is too early to give you specifics or for us to talk in terms of certainty, but this is part of our roadmap.”

Other plans are in the works for 2008, The Year of Integration, as well. However, it is still too early to say how things will change, but Devereux is currently exploring every possible avenue to reward employees who make an effort to lead or maintain healthy lifestyles.