Category: Stuff We Like

Volunteering at the heart of one of the area’s largest races

“It is only a few hours out of your day to make people happy.”  These are the words that drive Kathy Elthorp’s commitment to volunteerism. Her history of volunteering is quite impressive, 35 years with the Herkimer County Fair and 15 years with the Boilermaker Road Race in Utica.  But if you ask Kathy about the countless hours she has dedicated to these events, she’ll assure you that she is just doing what needs to be done and she is honored to be able to give back to the community she loves.

Kathy Elthorp

Nights and weekends at the fair

Kathy spends her weekdays serving Excellus BlueCross BlueShield members as a customer care advocate for the Federal Employee Program department, a position she has held for the past 14 years. On evenings and weekends, you’ll find her preparing for this summer’s Herkimer County Fair, where she holds the role of secretary, director, entertainment coordinator, and vendor chairperson.  While the fair takes place each year in August, preparing for this event is a year-round activity. Kathy stays motivated by reminding herself why she volunteers. “I believe in giving back to my community,” explains Kathy. “Plus, it allows me to educate my peers on agriculture and the importance of where our food comes from.  I get very excited to see the kids’ eyes light up when they go into the barns and see a cow being milked.”

Joining the race

Kathy’s relationship with the Boilermaker Road Race in Utica started 15 years ago. “There has always been a connection between the Herkimer County Fair and the Boilermaker,” explains Kathy. “We often share bleachers or road barriers with one another.”  Kathy started with the Boilermaker as a volunteer at the post-race party, a unique aspect of the event that sets the Boilermaker apart from road races around the country.  Runners join with friends, family and the local community to cap off their 5k or 15k trek with a celebration like no other, featuring live music, food and drinks.  Kathy spent years at the heart of the post-race celebration pouring beverages for tens of thousands of runners and party goers.

2022 post-race party

In the past couple of years, she took on the additional responsibility of organizing volunteers for the Health and Wellness Expo.  Friday and Saturday of Boilermaker weekend, runners are invited to visit the expo to pick up their race packets, explore the interactive booths, purchase race merchandise and more.  The expo is open to the public and attracts thousands of runners and community members.  Kathy and her team of volunteers dedicate more than 15 hours over race weekend to ensure the safety and cleanliness of the expo.

This year, Kathy has been named director of the Green Team for the 2023 Boilermaker Road Race. “The Boilermaker has been a new experience and they are welcoming me into the family of directors with open arms,” shares Kathy.  Her responsibilities will now include leading a team of 15 volunteers during the two days of the Health and Wellness Expo, as well as the post-race party.  This dedicated group of volunteers will not only be responsible for keeping the expo venue clean, but also the post-race party. “We’ll be working in partnership with the DPW, who does an amazing job helping clean up after the race,” explains Kathy.

“Kathy personifies volunteerism with her decades of work supporting the Herkimer County Fair and the Boilermaker,” says Boilermaker president Mark Donovan. “She is a tireless worker, whose thirst for giving back to the community is never quenched.” 

“After working the beverage truck at the Saranac Post Race Party for 15 years, Kathy reached out to us in 2022 seeking to engage at a higher level,” he continues. “As luck would have it, we had a need at our Health & Wellness Expo presented by Mohawk Valley Health System, which she filled last year earning great accolades.” 

“Kathy was not content with just that role and has since ascended to the volunteer-based role of director of the Boilermaker’s Green Team, which will include green-based waste management efforts at both the Expo and Post-Race Party. The Boilermaker and our community-at-large are blessed to have Kathy Elthorp’s commitment to volunteerism.”

The rewards of volunteering

Research shows that volunteering can provide satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment and purpose. Kathy has experienced the benefits of volunteering first-hand, “It is an honor to be a director and I feel that I can be an asset to the committee.”  Giving back to her community is the source of her motivation. She notes, “It’s not just cleaning up garbage, it is keeping our city clean, and the runners and spectators respect the work that we do.”

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield shares Kathy’s enthusiasm for the Boilermaker Road Race and is proud to once again be the presenting sponsor of the 15K road race. “This event showcases the spirit of our community as athletes from around the world and in our neighborhoods, gather together to enjoy this one-of-a-kind race,” says Excellus BCBS Utica regional president Eve Van de Wal.   

Excellus BCBS values and supports volunteerism by offering its employees up to eight hours of volunteer time off (VTO) each year.  Not only does this re-enforce the organization’s culture of work-life balance, but it also allows employees to support non-profit and charitable organizations in the communities it serves. According to the Mayo Clinic, volunteering has been shown to have many health benefits including improving physical and mental health, learning new skills, and nurturing relationships.

If you need an extra nudge to get out and volunteer in your community, Kathy reminds us that “Volunteering is not only a way to give back, but it is also fun. We work together as a team; we laugh and get the job done.  At the end of the day, you feel the reward of knowing you have done a great job.”

When we volunteer in our community, everybody benefits!

My LifeTime Story: Balancing Caregiving with Work

“I am very lucky that I work for a company that recognizes me as a person and not just a number,” says Victoria Graham, FQM Business Process Manager, at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

Trust

Victoria has worked in the finance department since 2016, in varies job roles, but what has remained constant is that she has always worked for compassionate and understanding leaders.

“What I have always valued as an employee at Excellus BCBS is that my leaders get to know me as a person, and they know that I embrace our company’s core values, which has led to me being trusted and accountable to get my work completed during difficult times in my life,” she says.

Victoria has experienced her fair share of difficult times, while working here her mother was diagnosed with dementia and Victoria became her primary caretaker. As her mother’s dementia progressed Victoria and her family started to look for an assisted living facility that could provide more hands-on daily care. This entailed endless hours of research, phone calls and legal paperwork, all while working a full-time job, parenting, and running a household.

Victoria poses with her mother

Available Internal Resources

Our internal Senior Caregiver Connections Committee was a significant resource to Victoria while she was going through the placement of her mother into an assisted living facility. The support the committee provided was also needed after her mother was living in an assisted living facility and she needed to transition to her next level of care. In fact, one employee who was a licensed social worker that Victoria met through the Senior Caregiver Connections Committee was instrumental with helping Victoria complete paperwork and legal documents that helped get her mother transitioned to the memory care unit at another facility.

Unfortunately, after only forty-five days in the new facility the COVID pandemic began, and no visitors were allowed into the facility. Victoria didn’t see her mother for almost two years, which caused her mother to be isolated and alone. It took the facility six months to implement one week video visits but by that time her mother’s memory was “shattered.”

“The Senior Caregiver Connections Committee connected me with other employees that were dealing with similar issues and provided me the opportunity to learn about senior caregiving topics, and to reach out to other employees for supportive help or advice,” says Victoria.

The resources and benefits offered to employees is also another asset that Victoria mentions, such as the vacation donation program which is available for those who may have family emergencies or a personal crisis that impacts them and results in a need for additional time off or the employee leave programs that are offered.

Invested In Our Wellbeing

Victoria credits the employee wellbeing programs and fitness classes with helping her keep active and balanced during her caregiving roles and work responsibilities.  

“Our company invests in our health and well-being by offering fitness and wellbeing opportunities during the workday. This is another way our company is investing in our mental and physical health,” she says.

“Besides feeling recharged mentally, the movement and exercise keeps me active in a job that is mainly sedentary,” she adds.

Job Opportunities

Are you looking to take the next step in your career and make a difference in others’ lives?

We have the right fit for you. Positions are available in many departments including Customer Care, Operational Excellence, Marketing and Sales, Information Technology, and more. Check us out at ExcellusBCBS.com/Careers.  Get to know our people and our values, and grow your relationship with us.  For more information, reach out to Director of Talent Acquisition Jason Helsdon at (585) 453-6215 or Jason.Helsdon@excellus.com.

No Meeting Thursdays

Love them or hate them, I am sure that we all can agree that meetings take up a big block of time during our workday.

In 2020, our company instituted No Meeting Thursdays or NMT days, that are scheduled the first and third Thursday every month. The intent of “No Meeting Thursday” was to help stop meeting burnout, boost overall productivity, and address the fact that employees needed time to accomplish their work.

A no-meeting day is exactly what it sounds like; a day within the work week that doesn’t have any meetings. This means no team meetings, one-on-ones, recurring meetings, or any other kind of meeting you may normally have. It took some time for this cultural and behavioral shift to occur and for all staff to embrace and implement practices to ensure success; but the employee feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Tania Fleming, Human Resources, Learning and Organizational Development Consultant, describes No Meeting Thursday as a journey of adjustment. “When I was still in my role as a claims supervisor and heard about No Meeting Thursdays, I cheered!! I would often joke at home that it was No Meeting Thursday, so I only had 3 or 4 meetings, instead of the 7-8 that I usually had daily –but I did tell them it was a work in progress. Initially, I would find myself moving rescheduled one-on-ones to a No Meeting Thursday or schedule catch up meetings with my staff which defeated the purpose of the day,” she added.

In 2021, Tania made a concerted effort to push back when someone scheduled a meeting on No Meeting Thursday and would suggest another day. She said if she did not try to make the change and use the day, it would never happen. “I used No Meeting Thursdays to catch up on sending monthly metrics to team members, work on projects and be more available (in green on Teams) for my team members,” she stated.

“Earlier this year, my colleague, Kimberly Kovacs, challenged me to really use No Meeting Thursdays for myself and my personal development and learning opportunities. This allowed me to take advantage of our e-learning opportunities, to spend time on my journaling, and to write and send Lifetime Way recognitions. I worked hard to set boundaries to protect No Meeting Thursday and worked even harder to challenge others to decide if a meeting on a No Meeting Thursday was a priority when it was scheduled or suggested,” stated Tania.  

In May, Tania moved to the human resources department and her calendar was already blocked off for No Meeting Thursdays by the SVP of the department, Lori Florack. “This was truly the amazing evolution of how No Meeting Thursday has become a priority and a huge morale boost for me as a new person to the department,” said Tania. “I love that my leadership and the company leadership has dedicated specific days that allow employees the time and space to be productive, creative, and accountable for their own employee development success,” she added.  

To learn more about benefits offered at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield visit careers.excellusbcbs.com.

Job Opportunities

Are you looking to take the next step in your career and make a difference in others’ lives?

We have the right fit for you. Positions are available in many departments including Customer Care, Operational Excellence, Marketing and Sales, Information Technology, and more. Check us out at ExcellusBCBS.com/Careers.  Get to know our people and our values, and grow your relationship with us.  For more information, reach out to Director of Talent Acquisition Jason Helsdon at (585) 453-6215 or Jason.Helsdon@excellus.com.

The Road to Leadership One Step at A Time

“Going to school as an adult, working in the industry that I’m studying in college is a whole different experience than taking courses right out of high school.  I can take the concepts and theories I am learning in the “classroom” and apply those skills to my daily work.  Additionally, it is exciting to understand how the concepts and theories I’m learning about are being applied throughout other departments and the entire organization,” says Kristin Johnston, Team Leader, Client & Provider Services

Company Growth Leads to Educational Growth

Kristin started her career at Excellus BCBS in the customer care department in 2004.  She spent her first three years learning as much as she could about the company and the products we sell. She focused on meeting member and provider’s needs through active listening, having empathy and using her problem-solving skills.

Kristin’s next steps in her career included a position in the Client and Provider Service department, which led to a supervisor position in Provider Relations and now her current role as a team leader.  “When I accepted the supervisor position in Provider Relations, I agreed to go back to school to finish my bachelor’s degree that I had started years before, but had never completed,” says Kristin.  

Employee Development

In 2020, Kristin completed her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business, Management and Economics through SUNY Empire State.  The company tuition reimbursement benefit paid for much of her schooling and Kristin credits the program as a perfect way to finance your education while building new skills. 

“The tuition reimbursement program has allowed me to focus on both work and school without worrying about how I was going to pay for it.  I was able to finish my degree more quickly by taking two or three courses a semester rather than paying out of pocket for one at a time,” says Kristin.

In 2021, Kristin was nominated to participate in the accelerated leader program offered by the company. The accelerated leader program helped Kristin to learn about industry trends and best practices while equipping her with new management skills. Her final capstone project focused on recruiting and retaining valuable talent, which sparked Kristin’s interest in Human Resources.  Through SUNY Empire State, Kristin was able to incorporate a graduate certificate focusing on Human Resource Management into her MBA degree and work on both at the same time. Kristin will be completing the graduate certificate in May and the MBA program in December.

Mentorship and Opportunities

Mentoring in the workplace is an established partnership between colleagues for the purposes of learning and growth. There are several different types of mentoring opportunities with the most common being a 1:1 traditional mentorship. 

Kristin credits her first mentor, Susie Hume, VP of Strategy Business Partnerships, with helping her grow both individually and within her role.  Over the course of the relationship, Kristin became a better public speaker, explored career growth opportunities and engaged in open and honest conversations concerning challenges and opportunities.

Kristin also worked on networking and interacting with her peers across the company, which this led to her joining the AVID ERG (employee resource group) and eventually becoming a co-chair.  Involvement in the ERG has led to Kristin broadening her experiences and increasing her knowledge about accessibility and advocacy, while developing deeper relationships with others throughout company and empathy for those dealing with issues related to a disability.

Tools for Success

Kristin credits the training and resources that have been offered by the company with personal and professional growth and developing benchmarks that provide a better sense of professional opportunities.

“The evolution of ongoing resources, such as online LinkedIn Learning, tuition reimbursement and mentorship programs has helped me gain confidence, increase my knowledge, attain goals, and expand my professional network.  All of this has led to a great deal of growth, both personally and professionally,” says Kristin.

To learn more about tuition reimbursement and other benefits offered at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield visit careers.excellusbcbs.com.

Job Opportunities

Are you looking to take the next step in your career and make a difference in others’ lives?

We have the right fit for you. Positions are available in many departments including Customer Care, Operational Excellence, Marketing and Sales, Information Technology, and more. Check us out at ExcellusBCBS.com/Careers.  Get to know our people and our values, and grow your relationship with us.  For more information, reach out to Director of Talent Acquisition Jason Helsdon at (585) 453-6215 or Jason.Helsdon@excellus.com.

Changing the stigma around disability

When she began her career in 2017 as an intern in safety net and individual market sales at the Health Plan, Kaitlin Hawkins-Rusch couldn’t foresee how involved she would become in diversity, equity, and inclusion and how it would impact not only her professional life, but her personal life as well.

As an intern, Kaitlin observed that discussions around diversity often focused on visible differences.   Reflecting on her own personal experience with a family member, she wondered if there was room to expand the definition of diversity to include characteristics that may not be outwardly visible.  Kaitlin expressed her curiosity to a senior leader who told her about AVID (Awareness of Visible and Invisible Disabilities), a new Employee Resource Group that was forming.

She was very interested.  Having a close family member with autism, Kaitlin was eager to learn more about how to support someone with a disability.  Autism can often be referred to as an “invisible” or “non-apparent” disability.  According to Disability:IN “many disabilities, such as mental illnesses, learning and attention issues, some physical illnesses, neurodiversity, and many other disabilities are not apparent.”  For some individuals on the autism spectrum, the challenges they face may not always be apparent but still impact their daily lives. For Kaitlin, the situation was more complex as her family member did not acknowledge their diagnoses.  Seeking to gain a greater understanding of how to support individuals with disabilities, including her family member, Kaitlin engaged with AVID during the group’s launch in 2018.

The mission of AVID is to create awareness and understanding of disabilities and their impacts in order to promote an inclusive culture across the organization. The group aspires to engage its membership, and the organization as a whole, in developing and identifying ways they can impact the organization and their communities.  All Health Plan employees are welcome to become members of AVID and the group is designed to support and advocate for all disabilities.  They serve as a resource to employees on disability-related topics and issues and provide forums for discussion and learning that can facilitate change on behalf of employees.

In 2019, Kaitlin transitioned from an intern to a full-time employee in the Human Resources Department and became more involved in the AVID Employee Resource Group, serving as a co-chair for the past 3 years. “I love being part of it,” explains Kaitlin. “It makes me feel like I have a chance internally and, in our communities, to advocate for something that doesn’t always get awareness.”  She explained that belonging to the employee resource group provides an opportunity to make a difference and help people feel more valued.  Everyone in the group comes together with the desire to learn.

“We’ve started to branch into different areas such as intersectionality between disabilities and other aspects of an individual’s identity, the unique challenges they face and what we can do in our organization to help,” says Kaitlin. She notes that the group is intentional about their journey of inclusion. “Disability inclusion isn’t specifically about disabilities but about accommodating everyone’s needs,” notes Kaitlin.  The group continues to examine the definition of disability and how it can be more encompassing. “We are exploring the connection between mental health and disability so that we can bridge the gaps and increase our ability to support more people and change the stigma around disability.”

Kaitlin points out that AVID, as well as the many other Employee Resources Groups the Health Plan has, is open to anyone within the organization who is interested in joining.  “We have individuals from our Member Care department who belong to AVID so that they can apply what they learn to support our members better,” explains Kaitlin.  As a company sponsored extension of our organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, Employee Resource Groups strive to create a safe and welcoming space for everyone.

The AVID Employee Resource Group helps lead the organization in recognizing National Disability Employments Awareness Month, World Down Syndrome Day, Autism Awareness Day, Deaf History Month, and more.  The group has organized various speakers and panel discussion on topics related to disability inclusion and conducted a month-long session called Lifetime of Signing, teaching the basics of ASL and sharing information on deaf culture.

This year, Kaitlin took her involvement with disability inclusion a step further and provided support, from data collection to project management, for the Disability Equality Index submission. As a result of this collaborative effort, the Health Plan was named to the Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion after receiving a top score of 100 percent on the 2022 Disability Equality Index (DEI), a national benchmarking survey by Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities.

“My involvement with AVID and learning more about autism and the disability space has allowed me to be more aware of my family member’s needs and understanding alternative ways to communicate and connect,” Kaitlin explains. “The increase in my general understanding of neurodiversity has impacted so many of my relationships. I feel like I’m more able to help others in my family communicate and think differently.”

To learn more about how we embrace diversity at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield visit our careers page.

Job Opportunities

Are you looking to take the next step in your career and make a difference in others’ lives?

We have the right fit for you. Positions are available in many departments including Customer Care, Operational Excellence, Marketing and Sales, Information Technology, and more. Check us out at careers.excellusbcbs.com.  Get to know our people and our values, and grow your relationship with us.  For more information, reach out to Director of Talent Acquisition Jason Helsdon at (585) 453-6215 or Jason.Helsdon@excellus.com.

Picture of Chad Tooke

Employee-veterans guide development of new vet-focused Medicare offering

When US Army Veterans Rick Jennejahn, Chad Tooke, Brian Brady, and Rob Contestabile left active military service, one might’ve assumed their days of serving their country and supporting their fellow soldiers were over. But now, as employees of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, they’re serving our members and communities as advocates for veterans in an unanticipated but widely impactful way.

Recognizing that several health care needs of upstate New York veterans were not being met, Health Plan Vice President for Medicare Karen Bodley and Medicare Segment Manager Nicole Felts began working on putting together a team charged with filling those care gaps.

“We wanted to serve our veterans with a product that addresses their specific needs,” says Felts. “To explore how we might do that, we knew there was no better way than to talk directly to the military veterans working at our company.”

Felts and Bodley reached out to the Health Plan’s Veterans Network ERG to set up a series of focus group discussions to hear veterans’ perspectives on the health care gaps they and their fellow veterans face.

Finding that cohort of veterans at the Health Plan was not difficult – the health insurer’s work culture encourages employees to join one or more of the company’s Employee Resource Groups or “E-R-Gs,” that bring employees together based on specific identities including ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability and military service.

Felts and her team contacted Contestabile (competitive intelligence analyst), who then reached out to Tooke (provider network and strategy manager), Brady (investigative clinical pharmacist), Jennejahn (director of pharmacy innovation), and several other veteran-employees from the Veteran’s Network ERG. This veteran group augmented a cross-departmental force that included representatives from Marketing, Customer Care, Medicare Sales, Membership & Billing, and others.

It was an opportunity for these veterans, now out of the service, to once again support their brothers and sisters in arms.

“The veteran community is different,” says Tooke. “Certain needs are much bigger for veterans, like transportation, for example. A lot of veterans are physically isolated and can’t get to health care facilities very easily. And behavioral health – that is a big topic and something we pushed for.”

According to RAND Health, one in five US military veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan experiences mental health issues, but only half of those who need treatment seek medical help. Serious mental health challenges connected to military service such as depression, PTSD, and anxiety also have direct ties to substance use, social isolation, and homelessness, creating a deep fissure in the fabric of our communities.

“We not only talked about behavioral health, access, but also cost,” says Jennejahn. “If a vet can’t get what they need at the VA, oftentimes they’ll go without because they can’t afford to pay to go somewhere else.”

Additionally, US military veterans are disproportionately older, male, and face greater health challenges compared with non-veterans.

“The nature of military service can cause hearing issues—a significant number of veterans have some degree of hearing loss,” Contestabile says. “We see access to hearing services as an enormous benefit.”

The Medicare product innovation team took away from the focus groups the following key points: Veterans need better health care options specific to access to providers and facilities, better behavioral health services, and better transportation options.

“With our internal veterans’ input and guidance, we enhanced our Medicare products to provide those options. The plans offer veterans who want to expand their VA health benefits with the added extras of greater access, no-cost behavioral health visits, and transportation assistance, among other things,” says Felts, “And it’s worth noting that this/these product/s can benefit non-veterans as well.”

In addition to a $0 premium, low copays for primary care, and specialist and telehealth visits, these expanded Medicare plans include:

  • Access to the Health Plan’s expansive network of doctors, specialists, hospitals, and health care facilities for ease and convenience
  • $0 preventive and comprehensive dental with a $1,000 annual allowance
  • $0 copay for behavioral health in-office visits
  • 12 one-way rides each year to health-related locations at no cost
  • $35 Part B premium refund each month
  • $50 each quarter to spend on non-prescription, over-the-counter health and wellness items
  • Healthy home meal delivery service following medical procedures or hospital discharge
  • A constant connection to care and medical resources including telehealth, care management, and a 24/7 nurse care line
  • $4,500 maximum out-of-pocket protection
  • Annual eyewear allowance of $250
  • Free routine hearing exams
  • And more

The Medicare team will continue to meet with the veterans group to assess the new plan as it rolls out, gather feedback, and brainstorm new ideas and adjustments for future plan years.

Brady believes veterans will appreciate having more health care options. “They fought for our freedom,” he says. “Now they have the freedom to choose.”

“We’re here for our community members – to be advocates,” Contestabile adds. “It’s important to recognize the service of our veterans, and offer them a benefit that makes a difference.”

For more information, visit ExcellusMedicare.com.

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