Page 102 - HCPVitalityChronicles

Pratibha Patel, MD, Encourages Teammates to Get Healthier
as a Gift to Her

For anyone who knows Pratibha Patel, healthy, I have to be a model of health,
MD, PacifiCA market president, emeri- to inspire them in turn to be healthy,”
tus, the pact she made with her hus- she said. “Inspiring other people to see
band in advance of her upcoming how important it is to be healthy has
semi-retirement in January 2017 will been my passion.”
come as no surprise. Prati has been a
strong advocate of the Vitality wellness As Pratri transitions into semi-retirement,
program since its inception within the the next chapter in her life, she asks team-
organization in 2010. While thinking mates to grant her a special gift. “I ask of
about the future, her thought was, “It my teammates, as a retirement gift to me,
does not matter if the Vitality points Dr. Patel if you have not yet signed up for the Vital-
are there are not; that is not the main at Machu ity wellness program, please do that as a
reason for being engaged and active. I Picchu, gift to me.” In addition, she invites any and
left, and
made a pact to stick with my FitBit for- all teammates interested to join her in
hiking in
ever. My husband and I are going to Oregon, preparing for the Mount Fuji hike. “Any-
try to make 15,000 steps a day.” top. one who is interested in being a hiking
partner or new at attempting something
Stepping and hiking her way to better like that, let’s get trained and get healthy together.”
health have been a way of life to Prati
for several years. She inspired a group During her tenure, she has been happy to witness
of friends to start taking long walks more teammates walking, rather than sitting, during
many years ago. This then led to some their lunch breaks, in order to reach their 10,000
in the group doing marathons. Ulti- daily steps. When she was a regional medical direc-
mately, Prati, who has been with the company since 2005, tor, she implemented one-on-one walking meetings, which
felt just walking on a flat surface wasn’t enough. In 2011, other colleagues started to use as well. “I see more walk-
inspired by her son’s same accomplishment, she hiked ing than ever before,” Prati said. “People are engaged and
Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Two they know they need to get their 10,000 steps.” She
years later, she hiked Machu Picchu in Peru. And because added, however, that any movement or activity, even less
she likes to set health-related goals for herself as an incen- than 10,000 steps, is great.
tive, she set one for 2018—to hike Mount Fuji in Japan.
What Vitality did for Prati was give her a constant incen-
Part of the inspiration to do another tremendous hike came tive. She had always been active, but with ebbs and flows.
from her fellow teammate Victor Wong, MD, who asked her “Vitality made me disciplined,” she said. “I’m very compet-
which mountain she would climb next. Always one to com- itive so I had to get my points.”
pete and to have a set goal in mind, Prati thought Mount
Fuji in 18 months would be exactly what she needed. But the feeling from within is what will keep her going
after her point accumulation ends. “When people say, you
As a physician and as a health advocate, she feels it is her don’t look your age, you look so fit—all of these things
responsibility to be as healthy as possible. “In this industry, keep me going. Vitality has helped me to be healthy for
to encourage my patients and my teammates to be the rest of my life.”