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SITKA - Wellness Councils of America this month announced the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium earned a Gold-level Well Workplace Award for 2008.

In order to win a Well Workplace Award from WELCOA, organizations must meet seven benchmarks: capture senior level support, create cohesive wellness teams, collect data to drive health efforts, craft an operating plan, choose appropriate interventions, create a supportive environment and consistently evaluate outcomes.

This is great news for SEARHC, according to Doug Osborne and Lisa Sadleir-Hart, health educators who lead the SEARHC Employee Wellness Team. Osborne and Sadleir-Hart said they were happy to see the team meeting, and often beating, national benchmarks.

SEARHC is a nonprofit tribal health consortium of 18 Alaska Native communities that provides medical, dental, behavioral health, substance abuse treatment and wellness services.