2021 Finalists
September 30, 2021
Each year, the Healthiest Employers® awards program honors the best and brightest in workplace wellness. Over the past year and a half, it has become apparent that when it comes to employees’ overall well-being, employers have an incredible opportunity to offer benefits that fit an employee’s unique needs – regardless of where they are in their health journey.
The Healthiest Employers assessment is scored Rubric style on a 1-100 scale. The assessment is made up of six categories with yes/no, multiple choice, and short answer questions, with each question totaling .25-3 points. A Healthiest Employers Index (HEI) is assigned to each applicant to help rank among companies of similar size.
The 6 categories evaluated:
- Culture and Leadership Commitment
- Foundational Components
- Strategic Planning
- Communications and Marketing
- Programming and Interventions
- Reporting and Analytics
The following organizations were named to the Healthiest Employers of Kentucky for the 2021 nomination period. Congratulations to our finalists!
Small (2-299 Employees)
1st Linak U.S. – Louisville
Linak U.S. is a global leader in the design and production of electric linear actuator systems. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they made sure that they took care of their employees by providing raises for hourly workers, providing additional vacation days, and provided onsite vaccinations for their population. Leadership has also implemented an open door policy to create relationships with their employees and actively participates in wellness programming to set the tone for the rest of the group.
“It is one thing to establish and encourage your employees to take part in wellness programs – but the real value and reward is to see your colleagues actually taking advantage of these initiatives. It gives me great pleasure noticing people choosing to use our workout room or coming back from a run or boot camp workout. Combine this with healthy snacks and fruit days you will notice a change across the employee population.” – Soren Stig-Nielsen, President
2nd Netrush.com – Vancouver, Washington (Local Office: Hebron)
3rd Insuramax – Louisville
Midsize (300-1,499 Employees)
1st Commonwealth Credit Union – Frankfort
Commonwealth Credit Union opened in 1951 and currently has 15 branches throughout the state of Kentucky. They are proud of their 94% wellness program engagement rate and have reached their engagement goals the last four years.
"At Commonwealth Credit Union, staff has always been our greatest asset. Participating in a Wellness Program is a priority, as it benefits our employees, our organization, and the community. Obesity and disease in our nation, specifically in Kentucky, is at an all-time high and we want to provide team members the tools and resources they need to get on the path to wellness. I’m honored by our Healthiest Employers designation in 2018, 2019, 2020 and expect continued health successes as we focus on the health and wellness of our credit union family.” – Karen Harbin, President and CEO
2nd Messer Construction Company – Cincinnati, Ohio (Local Office: Louisville)
3rd MCM CPAs & Advisors – Louisville
Large (1,500-10,000 Employees)
1st Louisville Metro Government – Louisville
Serving as the governing body for the City of Louisville, Louisville Metro employs approximately 5,600 Kentuckians and oversees all parks, transportation, the Zoo, and all visitor attractions within the City’s limits. Their onsite Wellness Center has proven to assist in cost savings initiatives by helping manage diseases, provide nutrition resources, and additional primary care options. Employees who use the center regularly indicated a 90% approval rating, well above their annual goal. Since 2013, the center has allowed patients without regular access to primary care physicians receive the treatment needed to perform their best.
“The facility provides employees and family members covered by our health insurance with top quality health, wellness, and fitness resources. From the very beginning, the Wellness Center proved to be a spectacular hit with our employees, with usage and customer satisfaction numbers exceeding projections in every year it has been open. The center has proven to be such a success that in 2019 we were able to open a second facility in another part of the city to dramatically increase access. The Wellness Center continues to be a highly valued employee benefit as it helps to ensure the ongoing health of our Metro team.” – Ernestine Booth-Henry, Director of Human Resources
2nd Trilogy Health Services – Louisville
3rd St. Elizabeth Healthcare – Edgewood
Extra Large (10,000+ Employees)
1st Norton Healthcare – Louisville
Norton Healthcare is a non-profit hospital and health system that has more than 250 locations throughout Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Even with a global pandemic, Norton Healthcare employees experienced many triumphs. In the past year, tobacco use decreased b y 2.6%, participants’ health scores decreased approximately .5 on average, and hypertension decreased 2.5%. When reviewing their annual spend, they also discovered that their wellness participants cost 5.4% less than non-participants on medical claims and 9.4% less for prescription claims. This speaks volumes to their positive culture of wellness during such an uncertain year.
“As a healthcare organization, we know that employees who take care of their mind, body and spirit are able to provide a more positive healing environment for the more than 600,000 patients we serve each year. From sponsoring friendly walking competitions to offering reduced-cost gym memberships and wellness workshops, we are dedicated to fostering a culture of wellness to give our employees the tools and motivation they need to be successful. A healthy workforce correlates to our high employee engagement, but, most important, it enables us to meet the health care needs of our community.” – Russ Cox, President and CEO
2nd GE Appliances, a Haier company – Louisville
3rd Bon Secours Mercy Health – Cincinnati, Ohio (Multiple Local Offices)
The Healthiest Employers® survey is scored and powered by Springbuk, a health intelligence platform that simplifies data-driven decision-making with an intuitive user experience, predictive modeling, and curated action steps. Since 2009, Healthiest Employers has been the leading recognition program for employee wellness. Today, we currently host award ceremonies in over 45 regions across the country and applicants are not only eligible for local recognition, but also have the chance to earn a spot on the Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America. This national award takes the highest scoring applicants from all locations, company sizes, and industries. To sign up for the Healthiest Employers newsletter and get more information on our events, join our mailing list today!
To see more of our 2021 winners and finalists in the Healthiest Employers program, click here!
