ORLANDO, Fla - April 03, 2012
The Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) today presented its 10th Annual President's Award to Dr. Catherine Baase, MD, chief health officer for The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), at its 12th Annual International Health & Productivity Conference in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Baase also spoke at the conference on the global theme of "Expanding the Rationale for a Better Health Future."
"Dr. Baase is a visible and vocal leader of the international corporate community in promoting the value of investing in employee health as a human capital asset that produces a measurable return in lower medical costs and improved productivity," said Sean Sullivan, President & CEO of IHPM, who presented her with the award.
IHPM's President's Award in its early years was given to an organization that was helping to develop the new field of health and productivity management. More recently, it has been given to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation in advancing this field.
"Dow has become recognized as one of the world's "best-in-class" companies in making the health of our employees a fundamental part of the company's culture that extends beyond our own work force into the communities where we do business," said Neil Hawkins, Vice President for Sustainability and Environmental Health & Safety, Dow. "Dr. Baase has led this charge — collaborating across sectors, globalizing health as a business strategy and making it part of the public policy discussion."
"IHPM's leadership role of championing and facilitating the global spread of health and productivity management as a business as well as a national economic strategy is made possible by corporate leaders like Dr. Baase," Sullivan added. "She shares Dow's human capital philosophy, health investment strategy and well documented results in forums around the world — advancing the health and productivity movement by keeping the respected Dow 'brand' at its forefront, providing a model for others."
IHPM's growing international focus and actions are informed by a Business Leadership Council of corporate medical and human resource leaders like Dr. Baase, who have led the Institute around the world in pursuit of its mission. "It was Dr. Baase who first gave us the idea of becoming a global organization," said Sullivan, "when she said years ago that 'everything we do at Dow we do globally.' We made those words part of our strategic plan, and continue to live by them more all the time."
In combination with her role at Dow, Dr. Baase is active in a number of associations that underscore a shared interest in building healthy communities. She serves as chair for the Board of Directors of the Michigan Health Information Alliance (MiHIA), Inc. She is also active with the Partnership for Prevention, the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Health and Productivity Committee.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2011, Dow had annual sales of $60 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 197 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
About IHPM
The Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) is a global non-profit enterprise created in 1997 to establish the full value of employee health as an investment in workplace productivity and business performance. The Institute champions the idea of health as human capital — and the greatest untapped source of competitive advantage in a global marketplace. Health promotion and care delivery models that can improve functional health and positively impact total labor costs — rather than just health care costs — get employers to a new "bottom line" that makes health an asset rather than an expense. The Institute is working with employers, providers and governments globally to help build, manage and measure these models.
For Editorial Information:
Kyle Bandlow
The Dow Chemical Company
+1 989 638 2417
kbandlow@dow.com