Staff Writer

Times Herald-Record

NEWBURGH – Early this year, Mount Saint Mary College was presented with the Health and Wellness Platinum Medal for Excellence by the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, in recognition of the college’s commitment to health and wellness.

The college received the award for its ongoing efforts to increase wellness on campus for faculty and staff. Facilitating these efforts is the Mount’s Employee Wellness Committee, which was formed in January 2018 by Doreen Bischof, FNP, ’17, director of Health Services; Dina Leduc, RN, ’98, assistant director of Health Services; and several other college employees after they met with a representative from the Orange County Department of Health’s Healthy Orange program. The committee is comprised of representatives from the Mount’s offices of Health Services, Human Resources, Athletics, Campus Ministry, Counseling Services, faculty members, and more.

The temporary move to online learning at the Mount has not stopped the Employee Wellness Committee from being advocates for the health of the college community. The committee regularly provides helpful information for preventing COVID-19, such as proper hand washing techniques, how to properly use and dispose of personal protection equipment like masks and gloves, and more.

Last year, the Employee Wellness Committee held its first annual Employee Wellness Day. Though it is not possible to hold the event on-campus this year, the committee is actively planning its Virtual Employee Wellness Day for May.

“Wellness affects every aspect of your life,” said Bischof. “If we’re not taking care of ourselves, if we’re not eating heart healthy or not exercising, there’s a higher chance of complications that occur because of that. We need to have personal health in order to have a healthy community.”

The award comes on the heels of the Health and Wellness Gold Medal for Excellence, which the Mount’s Wellness Committee earned about a year ago.

For more information, visit msmc.edu.