Skip to Navigation
University of Pittsburgh
Print This Page Print this pages

July 13, 2017

Wellness Center Adds Full-time Health Coach

Taelor Vetica

Taelor Vetica is the full-time health coach at Pitt’s wellness center, UPMC MyHealth@Work. Vetica can meet with Pitt staff and faculty in one-on-one sessions and through departmental meetings.

Health coach Taelor Vetica (EDUC ’13G) says demand for her services has been steady since she started part time in January at UPMC MyHealth@Work at the University of Pittsburgh Health and Wellness Center. In fact, she says, her schedule was filled just three weeks after the clinic opened.

On July 5, her coaching work became full time. Not only will Vetica be able to increase the number of employees she sees individually, it will allow her to bring UPMC Health Plan programs to Pitt buildings and individual departments at the request of managers.

“The main thing that I want to achieve is improving the culture as a whole, and opening up new resources for faculty and staff,” she said of her new availability. “Sometimes health and wellness resources can be intimidating and people don’t know how to approach them.”

Vetica is able to offer UPMC Healthy Lifestyle programs such as MyHealth On the Go — brief workday stress breaks with interactive sessions about physical activity and nutrition — and MyHealth Lunch and Learn presentations centered on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Other topics include managing your weight, quitting tobacco and being more physically active.

Vetica also plans to incorporate more UPMC Health Plan services into her work, such as biometric screenings and blood pressure readings, in and outside the clinic’s Medical Arts Building suite. She will have more time as well to direct people to telephone health coaching, a service that allows Pitt employees with unusual work hours and those who simply can’t get away from the office, to receive health coaching remotely.

“The most important part of our services,” she adds, “is setting realistic, client-driven goals” for staff and faculty members, and then following up on their progress.

Vetica earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Slippery Rock University and a master’s degree in health, physical activity and chronic disease from Pitt. She is board certified as a health and wellness coach in training, and has additional certifications from the American College of Sports Medicine as an exercise physiologist and from the American Council on Exercise as a health coach.

While the clinic is open to all Pitt employees, Vetica’s health coaching services are available only to employees covered by UPMC Health Plan. Most coaching takes place in weekly 30-minute sessions across 6-8 weeks.

At a Glance

UPMC MyHealth@Work Health and Wellness Center
Medical Arts Building
3708 Fifth Avenue, Suite 505
7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
To schedule individual one-on-one sessions with Vetica, email Myhealthcoach@upmc.edu.
If you are interested in scheduling Vetica for your departmental meetings, email BeWell@pitt.edu.

 

Contact:
Marty Levine, martyl@pitt.edu, 412-758-4859

 


Leave a Reply