UnitedHealthcare Brings Comfort to U.S. Military Families at Fisher House Naval Medical Center of San Diego and Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fisher House in Tacoma Through CBS EcoMedia’s WellnessAd
“Sponsor A Family” program receives a full year’s worth of financial support for family lodging and well-being at both locations
(3BL Media) Manhattan Beach, CA - September 13, 2012 - CBS EcoMedia Inc. (“EcoMedia”) today announced substantial financial support for Fisher House Foundation, the non-profit veteran’s support organization, resulting from UnitedHealthcare’s advertising through EcoMedia’s WellnessAd program.
The UnitedHealthcare funding is providing one year’s worth of lodging and support costs for all families staying at the 7-suite Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fisher House in Tacoma, Washington and one year’s worth of lodging and support costs for all families staying at the Naval Medical Center 12-suite and 7-suite Fisher Houses in San Diego, California.
EcoMedia’s unique WellnessAd program links advertiser UnitedHealthcare to tangible health and wellness programs in communities across the country while also connecting UnitedHealthcare more effectively with consumers.
“UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to support Fisher House and help make a difference in the lives of our nation’s service members, veterans and their families,” said Lori McDougal, CEO of UnitedHealth Military & Veterans.
A Fisher House is “a home away from home” for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers. Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. There are now 57 Fisher Houses located in the United States and Germany.
“These Fisher Houses have provided thousands of nights of lodging during a critical time for these families. With UnitedHealthcare’s generosity, we will be able to ensure there is never a charge for their lodging. It removes that financial burden and lets the families focus on healing,” said David Coker, Fisher House Foundation President.
The Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fisher House in Tacoma, Washington provides seven family rooms with private bathrooms, while the two Fisher Houses at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego offer seven and twelve family rooms, respectively, each with private bathrooms, TV/DVD, WiFi, telephone and computers. All Fisher Houses are professionally furnished and decorated in the tone and style of the local region. They feature a common kitchen, laundry facilities, spacious dining room and an inviting living room with library, and toys for children. Newest houses are 100 percent handicap accessible and include elevators. The program began in 1990, and has offered more than 4 million days of lodging to more than 165,000 families.
"No WellnessAd, EcoAd or EducationAd partnership has brought us more joy and satisfaction than our work with Fisher House and UnitedHealthcare,” said Paul Polizzotto, Founder and President of CBS EcoMedia. “That’s because there’s no cause more worthy than support of our veterans and their families. The daily sacrifices they make on our behalf so often go unrecognized, so we welcome this opportunity to express our gratitude and to repay, in some small measure, the debt we owe them. It’s a privilege to announce that, thanks to generous financial support from UnitedHealthcare through our WellnessAd program and the commitment and vision of the folks at Fisher House in San Diego and Seattle, military families suffering from the stress of medical treatment will now have the comfortable ‘home away from home’ they deserve.”
The WellnessAd support will help ensure that families can stay at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fisher House in Tacoma, Washington and the Naval Medical Center in San Diego completely free of cost while they tend to their loved ones undergoing medical treatments.
About Fisher House Foundation
Fisher House Foundation is best known for the network of comfort homes built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. The Fisher Houses are 5,000 to 16,800 square-foot homes, donated to the military and Department of Veterans Affairs, where families can stay while a loved one is receiving treatment. Additionally, the Foundation ensures that families of service men and women wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan are not burdened with unnecessary expense during a time of crisis. Located in close proximity to the medical center or hospital it serves, each Fisher House consists of between 7 and 21 suites, with private bedrooms and baths.
Families share a common kitchen, laundry facilities, spacious dining room and an inviting living room with a library and toys for children. Fisher House Foundation ensures that there is no fee to stay in a Fisher House. Since inception, the program has saved military and veteran families an estimated $192 million in out of pocket costs for lodging and transportation.
Fisher House Foundation operates the Hero Miles Program, using donated frequent flyer miles to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members. To date, Hero Miles has provided over 26,000 airline tickets to our military and their families. The Foundation also manages a grant program that supports other military charities and scholarship funds for military children, spouses and children of fallen and disabled veterans.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.
About CBS EcoMedia Inc.
At EcoMedia, we're propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that's been our mission since we founded the company in 2002. In 2008, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media.
Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide. In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change. Please visit ecomedia.cbs.com to learn more.
By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities. EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.
