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By Record Courier Staff Writers

In Summit and Portage counties, three companies were recently recognized for taking significant steps to build a culture of health in the workplace as part of the 2019 results of the American Heart Association Workplace Health Achievement Index.

Akron Children’s Hospital of Akron and ������ both received gold awards, and the Summa Health System received a bronze award, according to a news release from the American Heart Association.

The American Heart Association created the index with its CEO Roundtable, a leadership collaborative of more than 40 chief executive officers of some of America’s largest companies who are committed to applying evidence-based approaches to improve their employees’ overall health.

“The American Heart Association applauds these local companies for their efforts in cultivating healthier workplaces and communities, as part of our mission to build a culture of health and well-being throughout the country,” said Chris Richardson, American Heart Association Akron board chair and chief executive officer of AxessPointe Community Health Centers.

The Workplace Health Achievement Index uses science-based best practices to evaluate the overall quality and comprehensiveness of companies’ workplace health programs. It calculates an average heart health score for employees of participating companies that securely submit aggregate health data.

The Workplace Health Achievement Index enables companies to measure the effectiveness of their workplace health programs, as well as the overall heart health of their employees. Unlike other existing organizational scorecards, the index also scores companies on the heart health of their employees based on Life’s Simple 7. The American Heart Association has defined ideal cardiovascular health based on seven risk factors that people can improve through lifestyle changes: smoking status, physical activity, weight, diet, blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure.