LACERS BOARD UPDATE
By Michael R. Wilkinson, LACERS Commissioner
Email: MikeWilkinson4LACERS@gmail.com
We take it for granted that we have the wonderful wellness program LACERS Well to improve our physical and mental health. However, when you look around, we are one of only a few plans that have anything like our wellness plan.
Let’s take a quick look back on how it started. LACERS Well started as a strategic plan initiative in 2008. Using funding from the LACERS health carriers, the program debuted in 2012. The LACERS Well Champion program, using volunteer Retirees, was begun in 2014 and a Wellness Coordinator was hired. LACERS Well quickly switched over to Zoom meetings as virtual offerings in 2020 until now to protect our members from the COVID-19 pandemic.
With that, where are we now, and what does the future hold? LACERS health plans offer webinars and seminars to help members get the treatments they need and to improve their quality of life. The Wellness Champion program continues to expand, leveraging the use of dedicated volunteers who share their passion with other retirees. Other LACERS wellness programs include technology, fitness, brain health classes, the Aging Mastery Program, informational webinars and open enrollment meetings for the health plans.
The Champion-led events include in-person events, including hikes in Griffith Park and Northridge Park; golf at the Alondra Golf Course; and botanical garden tours.
In the future, LACERS aims to add to the number of Champions and to include new geographic areas not currently covered by the plan and add to the number of preventive care and disease management webinars produced by our health carriers. Some of the topics will focus on areas of weight control, pre-hypertension and hypertension, pre-diabetes and diabetes, osteoarthritis, lower back pain and depression. In addition, the wellness program is looking to add in-person events to improve socialization and networking among members.
