Published June 08, 2016
Employers across the United States are being recognized by UnitedHealthcare for earning the company's "Well Deserved" award, an annual honor given to organizations that demonstrate commitment to improving the health and well-being of their employees through comprehensive and innovative wellness programs.
Well Deserved award winners used an assortment of worksite wellness programs and activities, including onsite health coaches and nurses, walking meetings, treadmill and standing desks, healthy café options, company gardens, "live healthy" challenges and other activities that promote a healthy lifestyle.
"We congratulate these innovative companies for cultivating a healthier workforce to help improve the well-being of their employees and increase employee satisfaction and productivity," said Ann Marie O'Brien, RN, UnitedHealthcare's national director of health strategies. "June is National Employee Wellbeing Month, so it's a perfect time for employers to start having a conversation about how a worksite wellness program may help their company or how to enhance their current wellness program."
Among this year's award winners are six employers who received Golden Apple awards for winning a Well Deserved award for the second time, demonstrating a lasting commitment to employee health and wellness:
Two employers received a Well Deserved Leadership award for 2015. This award recognizes employers for their innovation, thought leadership and sustained results in helping employees improve their health and well-being:
First-time Well Deserved award winners include:
Honorable Mention recipients include:
According to The National Business Group on Health, "research shows that healthy employees have lower health care costs; are more productive, creative and resilient; and provide greater intellectual capital to the organization."
A new study from the Society for Human Resource Management shows that about 70 percent of employers already offer wellness programs and 8 percent more plan to do so in the next year.
This is UnitedHealthcare's eighth year of recognizing employer customers with Well Deserved awards for their outstanding health and wellness programs, working with an external broker review panel to review and judge all applicants.
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.