Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Presents Michael Feulner Award to UVM Health Network CVMC

Release Date: 
August 31, 2015

CVMC Employees with Michael Fuelner Award

David Butsch, MD, Council board member; Michael Feulner; Janet Essman Franz, Council chair; Judy Tartaglia, CVMC president and CEO; and CVMC employee wellness committee members: Monica Urquhart, Robert Patterson, Kelley Willis, and Michael Kennedy.

Berlin, VT – On Tuesday, August 25, 2015, the Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports presented the Second Annual Michael Feulner Award to University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center in recognition of having the most employees participate in the Vermont Corporate Cup Challenge and State Agency Race on May 14, 2015. UVM Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center had over 320 employees registered for this year’s race.

Mike Feulner is a native Vermonter and a retired employee of the State of Vermont. He has been a member of the Vermont Corporate Cup Challenge and State Agency Race committee since its start in 1980. In 1996, he was appointed as the event's co-race director. Mr. Feulner is a former member of the Vermont Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and has served as chair of the board of directors for the National Association for Health and Fitness (the Network of State and Governor's Councils). He has been instrumental in making the Corporate Cup what it is today and following his retirement, this award was named in his honor.

The Council’s Corporate Cup race takes place each May, in conjunction with National Employee Health and Fitness Day, to encourage coworkers to walk and run together to improve their health and fitness. “CVMC really embraces the spirit of what this event is all about,” Mr. Feulner commented during the award presentation. Janet Essman Franz, Council chair, added “This [race] is all about worksite wellness, and clearly CVMC understands the importance of this.”

Accepting the award on behalf of the hospital was President and CEO, Judy Tartaglia along with several of the employee wellness committee members including Robert Patterson, Monica Urquhart, Kelley Willis, and Michael Kennedy.

Among other benefits, the employee wellness program offers at least one physical activity challenge per year, pays the entrance fee for the Vermont Corporate Cup race, maintains a one-mile walking path on the main campus and organizes a Fun Run 5 mile run/walk event as a fundraiser for the health care share program, which provides food-insecure patients and employees with local farm-fresh food each week of the growing season.

The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center is part of a four-hospital system established to deliver high quality academic medicine to every community we serve. Our partners are: The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, The University of Vermont Medical Center and Elizabethtown Community Hospital. For more information, visit UVMHealth.org/CVMC.