Press Releases

South Pacific organization acquires Lifestyle Medicine Institute and CHIP

In recent months the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific Division acquired the Lifestyle Medicine Institute (LMI) and with it the world-wide rights to CHIP, a community led health improvement program which has clinically proven health results for participants.

The CHIP program, formerly referred to as the Coronary Health Improvement Project, is now rebranded as the Complete Health Improvement Program. It is a 30- to 90-day facilitated education and support program helping participants to understand why and how to make lifestyle changes. Within the 30 days of the program, CHIP’s proven results include:

Lower high blood pressure, Lower BMI, Lower cholesterol,
Reduce depression, Arrest diabetes, Reduce heart disease risk

A key success factor for CHIP is that it is a community-based program led by trained volunteer facilitators and backed by years of learning and experience by professional medical and health practitioners.

CHIP was founded in Canada 25 years ago by Dr. Hans Diehl who has led the emerging field of Lifestyle Medicine, is a best-selling author, researcher, dynamic speaker and motivator. More than 50,000 people in the US, Canada, the UK and Asia Pacific have participated in the program.

CHIP is strongest in North America with trained facilitators in over 405 Seventh-day Adventist churches. There are 25 facilitators in Australia, 8 in the UK and 39 in New Zealand. The opportunity to grow the program through Seventh-day Adventist Churches and their surrounding communities is enormous. This year, LMI will encourage 5,000 people through the CHIP program in North America.

Sanitarium is commissioned to provide management advice and marketing support to further enhance the program and its benefits to bringing health and hope for a better life in communities world-wide. The Sanitarium team working on this program is planning to build a more scalable infrastructure to enable the business to grow within a sustainable structure and to easily replicate it so that more people can experience the priceless health benefits of CHIP.

Management of the Lifestyle Medicine Institute fits within the Health & Wellbeing Services area led by Cathy McDonald. The newly named Lifestyle Medicine Services team that now provides the management advice and marketing support for LMI is made up of the following people:

(L to R Front Row: Christina Hawkins, Eleen Stohr, Sharlene Mawer, Anja Sussman, Cathy McDonald. Back Row: Simon Barden, Stephan Herzog, Dr Wayne Dysinger-consultant physician, Dr Hans Diehl and Dr Darren Morton-CHIP Research Director)

• Christina Hawkins – Lifestyle Medicine Services Manager responsible for the lifestyle medicine efforts by Sanitarium through our consumer and nutrition interface and the management and marketing services offered to LMI.
• Anja Sussmann – program manager who is overseeing the redevelopment of the CHIP program, supervising pilot programs and administratively supporting the lifestyle medicine research efforts through Avondale College by Dr. Darren Morton and the Australian Research Institute working with Dr. Ross Grant
• Simon Barden – resources co-ordinator who is doing the grunt work on the new CHIP program content along with Dr. Hans Diehl. Simon is a talented writer with a good handle on the science.
• Sharlene Mawer – inquiries coordinator who manages systems to meet the needs of Sanitarium’s consumers in their nutrition inquiries with the Customer Relations Team. In between phone calls and emails with consumers, Sharlene is working on ‘tools’ that help people to make and maintain lifestyle changes such as recipe books and other information resources.
• Eleen Stohr – part-time fulfilment coordinator supporting Sharlene and the Customer Relations Team.

The United States ministry is called Lifestyle Medicine Institute. Team members include:

• Stephan Herzog – General Manager Business Development and overall manager of LMI LLC (a current member of Sanitarium’s Board of Directors, former CEO of Fernwood Women’s Fitness and former consultant to establish the initial client base for Cultivate)
• Dr. Hans Diehl – full time spokesperson for CHIP, founder, Clinical Director

Herzog and Diehl are supported by a management team of five providing direction on operations, marketing and training. Both teams are supported by Dr. Darren Morton from Avondale College, who is the CHIP research director and is focused on publishing papers about the CHIP program and its clinical outcomes.

CHIP Health Broadcasts On Two Radio Networks

A weekly radio program, "CHIP Health with Dr. Hans Diehl," can be heard over the LifeTalk Radio Network. A second, taped version of the program is broadcasting over 3ABN Radio. The two networks offer a worldwide listening audience over their more than three-hundred affiliate stations and live Internet streaming.

"We're very excited about the opportunity to share our 'health by choice, not by chance' message with so many," says Dr. Hans Diehl, founder/director of the Loma Linda, California-based Lifestyle Medicine Institute. "These radio broadcasts are reaching a vast number of people who can now learn how to gain and maintain optimum health using many of the same powerful principles taught at our many local CHIP programs."

Both radio shows are hosted by former Vibrant Life magazine editor Charles Mills. They feature a wide variety of guests. Besides Dr. Diehl, listeners will hear from the nation's top medical professionals as well as CHIP program participants.

The live, one-hour call-in edition of "CHIP Health with Dr. Hans Diehl" can be heard Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m. EST (2:00 p.m. Pacific) over the stations of the LifeTalk Radio Network. A taped, 30-minute edition of the show is airing Mondays at 3:30 p.m. EST (12:30 p.m. Pacific) over the 3ABN Radio Network. Station listings are available at lifetalk.net and 3abnradio.org.