The Rhode Island Business Group on Health (RIBGH) and the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy will co-host an employer roundtable event on combating the obesity epidemic on Oct. 7, 2022 from 8 AM – 10 AM, at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. The Rhode Island employer roundtable discussion, Uniting to Combat the Burden of Obesity & the Benefits of Obesity Management, will explore the extent of the obesity epidemic and the costs incurred by employers, while also offering an employer toolkit to both inform and guide organizations on how to engage employees around chronic weight management. The event is made possible through the sponsorship of Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Tufts Health Plan (a Point32Health company), and United Healthcare.

The RIBGH’s Executive Director, Al Charbonneau will kick off the event with an overview of the morning’s schedule, including an introduction of the roundtable’s moderator David K. Ahern, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Sr. Scientist for Abacus Health Solutions. Panelists for the event include: Steve Kogut, Ph.D., MBA, Professor at the URI College of Pharmacy; Nancy Glick, Sr. VP and Director of Health & Nutrition Affairs Nancy Glick of MS&L Worldwide; Tom Hubbard, VP of Policy Research for the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI); Angela Fitch, MD, FACP, Co-Director of Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center and Assistant Professor of Harvard Medical School and Fellow of the Obesity Medicine Association; and Corey O’Brien, Medical Account Associate Director of the New England Region for Novo Nordisk.

The roundtable discussion is a follow-up to RIBGH’s recent employer breakfast event entitled Behavioral Health in the Workplace: Challenges and Solutions, which focused on best practices for implementing an employee mental health strategy for employers.