Barnabas Health recently commemorated its third anniversary for being accredited as a CEO Cancer Gold Standard organization.

Barnabas Health received this recognition for its commitment to working to reduce cancer risk for both its employees and their families. With its six acute care hospitals, two children's hospitals, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, a behavorial health network, and comprehensive home care and hospice programs, Barnabas Health employs approximately 18,200 people across the state.

In receiving the recognition, Barnabas Health President and CEO Barry H. Ostrowsky said, "one of our primary goals as a health care provider is to encourage wellness among our physicians, employees, volunteers and the members of the communities we serve". 

As part of this commitment, Ostrowsky noted Barnabas Health became a smoke-free environment more than two years ago. An emphasis on wellness "will continue to be a priority in 2012," Ostrowsky added.

The CEO Cancer Gold Standard was developed by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer to assist organizations in reducing the burden of cancer. 

Organizations that adopt the Gold Standard demonstrate a commitment to improving the health and lives of their employees and their family members by maintaining a culture that fosters healthy lifestyles and provides support when a diagnosis of cancer becomes a reality.

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer is a non-profit corporation comprised of corporate executives from major American companies dedicated to working toward the elimination of cancer as a personal disease and as a public health problem. 

Members of the CEO Roundtable worke collaboratively to develop and implement initiatives that reduce the risk of cancer, enable early diagnosis, facilitate better access to best-available treatments and work toward the discovery of more effective diagnostic tools and anti-cancer therapies.

For more information on the organization, visit their website.