Employee Wellness Program

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

The Wake County Government initiated its WakeWise Wellness (WWW) program in fiscal year 2007-2008. During the first year, the initiative blossomed into a full-spectrum program showcasing a number of onsite wellness initiatives, as well as integration of insurance-based health and wellness benefits. This program was a well developed response to double digit claims and double digit premium increases in Wake County during the mid-2000s. The claim information revealed chronic disease categories that mostly related to adult onset diabetes and weight management—both areas that can be treated, improved or alleviated through better self-care. In addition to the need to address the high amount of claims, the Benefits Department also chose to change plan design. Wake County shifted from a PPO to a consumer-driven platform to help reduce overall long-term medical costs while concurrently implementing its first wellness program. Due to the implementation of this program, the county has been successful in building a culture of wellness for its employees. The county has established a Wellness Team with full employee representation to guide the county’s efforts, as well as tobacco-free campuses, guidelines for healthy meeting foods and encouragement to participate in available health and wellness offerings.