Press Releases: 2011

Employees of AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies Help Build Healthy Community with New Playground

'Safe Playground' is 10th Built as Part of Keystone Mercy Program

Employees of the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies and its Philadelphia-area Medicaid managed care plan, Keystone Mercy Health Plan, left their offices today, picked up toolboxes and went to work building a much-needed playground for the children of the Colwyn Elementary School.

The new playground for the students of the kindergarten through sixth-grade school in the William Penn School District is the tenth built in the Philadelphia area by the employees since Keystone Mercy established its Safe Playground program in 2007.

The 1,800-square-foot playground, like all those that have been built by the AmeriHealth Mercy and Keystone Mercy employees, is aimed at getting kids more active, a critical tool in the battle against rising childhood obesity rates, particularly in lower-income families.

"Our students are just thrilled with the new playground and we are so thankful for the efforts of the AmeriHealth Mercy and Keystone Mercy employees who came out to build it today," said Patricia Blanding-Stewart, Principal of Colwyn Elementary.

"The Colwyn Elementary School is focused on improving learning and performance and the new playground will play a key role in that by helping to build the physical well-being of our students," said Joseph Bruni, Superintendent of the William Penn School District.

The colorful playground with plenty of climbing and sliding space was built by about 30 AmeriHealth Mercy and Keystone Mercy employees, including one who attended Colwyn Elementary as a child, and another who is the aunt of a current student.

"We are very proud of the Safe Playground program because it directly addresses our mission of helping to build healthy communities, in this case literally, with our employees doing the assembly work," said Anne Morrissey, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies. "And it is always such a joy to see the children react so happily to a new play space."

"The rate of childhood obesity has grown at an incredible rate over the last three decades and we know that getting kids to exercise more is an effective way of helping to reverse that trend," said Jay Feldstein, DO, Regional President of the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies. "While the Safe Playground program enables kids to have fun, it also gets them in the habit of making physical activity a normal part of their day. That will help them to stay well."

View the Colwyn Playground Build Event Photos

About Keystone Mercy Health Plan

Keystone Mercy Health Plan, a member of the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of companies, is a Medical Assistance (Medicaid) managed care health plan serving more than 300,000 Medical Assistance recipients in southeastern Pennsylvania. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Keystone Mercy is a mission-driven company dedicated to helping members get care, stay well and build healthy communities. For more information about Keystone Mercy Health Plan, please visit www.keystonemercy.com.

For more information, contact Keystone Mercy at 215-937-8648.