Member Testimonials

"I've learned that no matter how large you are, no one company and no individual is big enough to solve wellness and health care issues in isolation. All health care issues are local and must be addressed locally. No two markets are the same, no two employers are the same. The stakeholder base is much larger than one person or one company can impact.

The coalition provides us a menu of items that we can access to meet various needs based upon the audience and the issue. They provide information that we may not find even with internal staff dedicated to employee benefits. We have the opportunity to access tools that we may not get on our own to help us as a purchaser understand some of the "behind the veil" issues, tools like eValue8, and Bridges to Excellence. It also provides us with access to tools that we can make available to employees and their families to help them make more informed health care and selecting the highest performing hospitals using The Leapfrog Group's Hospital Survey.

Why join? We've learned there are 4 main stakeholders in health care - the four "P's". The purchaser, the patient, the providers and the plan. Our mixed-model coalition provides a venue for 3 of these 4 stakeholders to meet regularly and become better informed about the issues that each of us faces individually and collectively. Without this understanding of each other, we can't possibly come to solutions for a system that affects each one of us - we can't begin to untie the "Gordian knot". It's the only venue we've found as purchasers that permits us to share information and concerns with two of the other "P's" - the plans and the providers. That's why Chesapeake Public Schools has joined the coalition - we believe it provides a venue that we can't find anywhere else and couldn't possibly develop on our own."
        -Victoria Lucente, Current Member; Vice-Chair-VBCH Board of Diretors;
          Chair, eValue8 User Committee; Employer: Chesapeake Public Schools

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"The Coalition has proved to be a valuable resource for information pertaining to healthcare quality, value-based purchasing, and health management issues.  Their business roundtables and summits have provided a forum for interested employers and healthcare providers to meet and discuss the healthcare issues that affect us all.
       -Sid Spencer, Jr., VBCH Board of Directors; eValue8 Users Committee; Membership Committee
          Employer: Philip Morris, USA

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"Employers interested in saving costs while improving the health of their employees should become members. This is the Coalition that connects evidence-based medicine with employee benefit programs. Conferences, seminars, and various publications of the Coalition are designed to make a significant difference. In other words: if you miss the advantages of this Coalition, you will pay for it..."
      -E. Andrew Balas, Current Member; VBCH Board of Directors; Finance/Fund Raising Committee       Employer: College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University
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"The Virginia Business Coalition on Health is creating a voice to promote best practices for high quality, cost-effective healthcare. It is a dynamic organization in which employers can network, receive top notch educational programs, value added services, and recognition for wellness initiatives."
       - Susan Tweed, Former-Board of Directors; Employer: Sentara Healthcare

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"From a small business perspective, the Coalition is a great conduit for us to hear about current issues of healthcare and an even better conduit for us to be heard. As a healthcare provider Group, we care about the delivery of quality healthcare services and the latest trends in this area. Thank goodness we have a great Coalition for our community."
       - Stephen Cyrus, Former-Board of Directors; Employer: Atlantic Anesthesia, Inc.

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"Bon Secours Hampton Roads has been a member of the Coalition for over 10 years. As a major employer in Virginia, we are pleased to see the expansion of Virginia Business Coalition on Health, state-wide. The annual business summit and business roundtables quarterly, plus the additional services offered are excellent forums for networking and increasing knowledge on important business issues effecting the health and wellness of our employees, which are our most valuable assets. The VBCH is a true business partner and community resource as employers continue to deal with different and complex workplace issues, VBCH is our partner in developing valuable workplace solutions."
       -Stephanie Lloyd, VBCH Current Member; Former-Board of Directors
        Employer: Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System, Inc.

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"VBCH provides ChamberSolutions and other employers tools and resources that cannot be found elsewhere. In today's consumer centric healthcare environment these tools can help employees make better healthcare purchasing decisions that, in turn, may increase quality and patient outcomes and lead to overall lower cost."
       -Kenn Penn; VBCH Current Member; Former-Board of Directors;
        Employer: Chamber Solutions

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"For more than two decades, the Coalition has served as a stable and convenient resource for the business community to attempt to understand and address an array of important and complex issues which impact on the cost, quality and availability of health care services in the Commonwealth."
        -Patrick Devine, Jr., Esquire; Former-Board of Directors; Employer: Williams Mullen

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"Employers wanting and needing to move beyond passing costs on to employees in the form of higher deductibles, copays and premiums, have looked to wellness and prevention programs and to disease management programs in an effort to manage health care costs - all of which are employer-centric initiatives. Now, the next phase is beyond what an employer can do by itself. The coalition-building phase is raising the bar for quality processes through measurement, reporting, rewards and education in hospital patient safety, physician performance and health plan performance. These are programs that push for higher health care quality that will ultimately lower employers' health care costs. This is what the Virginia Business Coalition on Health does and Norfolk Southern is pleased to actively support VBCH."
        -Dennis Turner; Former-Chair, Board of Directors; Employer: Norfolk Southern Corportation

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"The VBCH brings together from a variety of thought leaders, the most current information on healthcare and it's delivery - anyone in this industry would benefit from being a member."
        -Matthew Manock; Current Member; Former-Board of Directors; Employer: Anthem BC and BS

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"As a member I enjoy the diversity of the education information, from health care purchasing from local providers to obtaining general information from the Internet."
        -Jeff Harlow; Current Member; Employer: AON Consulting