Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Summer 2017 - 22

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PK
Wellness Matters!
Lori Kunkle, PK Benefits Consulting Group

n January of 2014, PK Benefits Consulting Group launched
PK Wellness Matters in an effort to help employers gain control
over the ever-increasing costs of the healthcare benefits they
provide employees. "We believed that engaging individuals in the
management of their own health was a crucial key that had to be
inserted back into the economic equation of healthcare," said Mark
Kunkle, President of PK Benefits Consulting.

Lori Kunkle, RN, MSN, is the Senior Vice President of the
Clinical Wellness Division. Lori has a strong desire to make a
difference in people's lives. She understands the importance of
engaging individuals in understanding their own health while
inspiring them to take the necessary steps to improve their overall
wellbeing. Lori attended the Reading Hospital School of Nursing
and worked in the Reading Hospital Emergency Department for 12
years. "I truly loved my time spent in the Emergency Department
and as I had the opportunity to continue my education, I developed
a passion for working in the community providing education and
promoting health." After earning a Bachelor's Degree from Alvernia
University, Lori continued her education, receiving a Master's
Degree from Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Lori
has obtained faculty member status with the Wellness Council of
America which is one of the nation's most respected resources for
building high-performing and health oriented workplaces. Lori also
holds a certification as a Workplace Wellness Specialist (CWWS)
and recently received her designation as a Certified Wellness
Practitioner from the National Wellness Institute.
The PK Wellness Matters program success is due in large part to
establishing a solid base of company leadership support, promoting
a positive workplace culture, understanding that much of illness is
preventable and that the workplace is the ideal place for addressing
22 COMMERCE QUARTERLY SUMMER 2017

employee health and wellbeing. PK provides a proactive and "high
touch" workplace wellness program which equates to a win-win for
business owners and employees. We also believe that our strong
employee participation stems from the relationships with our health
coaches. All of our coaches are registered nurses who work oneon-one with employees to achieve genuine behavioral and lifestyle
changes. We believe the nursing component of our program
is what sets us apart from other wellness programs. "Every day,
millions of nurses are on the front lines to improve the health of all
Americans. Whether they are in the hospital setting, neighborhood
health clinics, schools, or offices, nurses are recognized as the most
trusted profession year after year and are a vital resource to our
country's ever-changing health care system," explains Lori. "Our
nurses deal with a variety of health related lifestyle issues such as
self-management of chronic conditions, navigating the healthcare
system, smoking cessation, nutrition and exercise programming,
and managing stress, just to name a few. Trust plays an important
role in the relationship between our nurses and the people we serve.
Through that trust, we are committed to engaging with our clients
to improve their health and advocating for quality care."
In the spring of 2015, while performing an onsite biometric
event for one of our PK clients, we were able to identify multiple
health risks in one of the company's young employees. After
speaking with the nurse, she found that she had abnormal readings
in all of the measured categories. She was encouraged by the nurse
to make an appointment with her primary care physician. She
did, and through further testing she was diagnosed with Celiac
Disease. In the months that followed, the employee admitted to
doing little to nothing to address her health findings. The employee
admitted that she lived a sedentary lifestyle, spending much of her

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Summer 2017