The Growing Healthy Lives ONE Award recognizes and highlights employers that have gone above and beyond expectations in the areas of employee health and wellness. Attributes of an ideal nominee include businesses that have health programs, incentives and environments that have shown positive results in improving employee health outcomes.

Patricia Benson, UofL’s AVP for Health, Wellness and Disease Management, said the university’s comprehensive, strategically implemented workplace wellness program helped earn this year’s award.

“The Get Healthy Now team has worked hard to build trust-based partnerships with campus and community stakeholders to drive year-over-year success, program sustainability and demonstrated positive return-on-investment,” she said. “We are recognized nationally and are regularly called upon to share our story with others in the industry seeking to emulate our success. Success as evident in our impact on the bottom line coupled with high employee engagement and retention in the wellness program for 11 consecutive years.”

In 2016, for example, the Get Healthy Now program at UofL generated a 73-percent participation rate in telephonic coaching and held 401 onsite wellness coaching sessions. There are about 4,000 wellness center members who take advantage of the diverse class and programming schedule, including personal training sessions.

Also last year, GHN held 2,204 fitness classes with more than 10,500 in attendance. 

“We have built a sustainable program with measurable impact and this recognition is a testament of our good work and accomplishments to date,” Benson said. “The award helps position the University of Louisville as a great place to work. It says we value our employees and are willing to invest in their well-being.”

Past Growing Healthy Lives ONE Award winners include Baptist Health and Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services.

One Southern Indiana’s program recognizes finalists in seven business categories who were scored by an independent panel of judges based on criteria of business history, community involvement, response to adversity, new opportunities and innovation.

Additional category winners . One Southern Indiana (1si) was formed in July of 2006 as the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development organization serving Clark and Floyd counties.

Greatist asked readers to submit nominations via social media. The nomination criteria included: special dietary options on dining hall menus, number of fitness classes offered, and available mental health resources.

Special consideration was given to schools in the top 20 of Trojan’s Sexual Health Report Card; those included in the Princeton Review’s lists for best campus food, best health services, best athletic facilities, best quality of life, and happiest students; and the American College of Health Association’s Healthy Campus Partners.

Nominated schools were sent a questionnaire asking about their dining services, fitness facilities, student mental and sexual health care, and alcohol education and policies.

“At the University of Louisville, we recognize the importance of providing holistic wellness opportunities for our students in support of their overall wellbeing,” said Michael Mardis, dean of students. “Therefore, we are thrilled to be recognized, for the second year in a row, as one of the healthiest colleges across the country. This recognition is the culmination of the partnership between several different departments across campus, including the Counseling Center, Intramural Sports, Campus Health and others.”

Greatist.com specifically praised UofL for the wide variety of fitness classes offered at the new Student Recreation Center (SRC) on Belknap Campus. The SRC offers four to five classes per day including belly dancing and other fitness options like barre, cycling, power yoga, and HIIT. Greatist also mentioned U-FIT, a $20 program for UofL students that offers services such as: FitTest & Coaching, Fitness Consultations, FitSocials, etc. U-Fit is offered by the Health Promotion Office in the SRC.

The Wellness Center moved from a small, 2,000-square-foot space in the lower level of Crawford Gym to the newly-renovated 22,000-square-foot space in the spring of 2013.

According to Patricia Benson, AVP for Health, Wellness and Disease Management, the new space allowed Get Healthy Now to expand the geographical reach of its workplace wellness efforts, including membership access to alumni and affiliated university partners and community engagement initiatives and events that are hosted at the facility, such as the American Heart Association Worksite Wellness Symposium.

In the three years since the move, the Wellness Center has hit its projected milestones, both in terms of membership and overall utilization rates.

“When we first reopened the doors to the GHN Wellness Center in 2013, we brought a membership base of 750 employees over from Crawford Gym. Now we have over 2,100 employees who have activated their membership,” Benson said.

Overall employee utilization of the Wellness Center has also steadily climbed from year-to-year with an average of 1,205 monthly visits in 2013, to 3,677 monthly visits in 2016. In the month of March, the GHN Wellness Center experienced a 14-percent increase in visits versus March 2015, with 3,677 employees walking through the doors. In January and February combined, more than 18,000 member visits were recorded.

In addition to membership/visit growth, the GHN Wellness Center has also added programming to fit the changing demands of its members, offering everything from water fitness and meditation to Zumba and Pilates.

“We are constantly reviewing our programs and offerings to keep our members coming through the doors and are actively engaged in our wellness offerings, no matter where they are on their wellness journey,” she said.

In year four, the Wellness Center plans to offer new classes that are focused on holistic health and wellbeing, starting with Tai Chi this summer.

“We will be working closely with our clinical partners to help employees transition and rebound from chronic and acute health challenges – be it knee replacement surgery or other conditions that create barriers in achieving overall wellness goals and living a full, active and independent life,” Benson said.

The focus on holistic health is in response to an annual survey conducted by GHN to ensure the team is offering relevant classes and programs for its members. Benson said the GHN team also stays on top of emerging trends in wellness and fitness.

GHN’s model has been so successful, other larger universities – including the University of Alabama and the University of Michigan – have used it as a benchmark for their own employee wellness programs.

“If there is one thing that surprises me, it’s that we were able to do this when much larger institutions haven’t figured it out yet,” Benson said. “The key for us is to offer a plethora of wellness opportunities that engage multiple interests and passions for all of the employees we serve. Our intent from day one was to create a sustainable program that has measurable impact. We’ve been able to do that.”