How a Rural Health System Turned a Fragmented Wellness Program into Sustained Success

How does a 25-bed hospital and health system in Aspen, Colorado, achieve wellness results that rival Fortune 500 employers? By partnering with Healthbreak, Aspen Valley Health (AVH) built a program that goes beyond participation, delivering industry-leading enrollment, sustained engagement, lower turnover, and measurable health improvements.

Aspen Valley Health (AVH) is an independent, not-for-profit health system serving a rural mountain community in Aspen and the broader Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, with a critical access hospital, a Level III Trauma Center, and an integrated network of clinics and specialists across more than 25 medical fields. With roughly 500 employees and a strong clinical reputation, AVH works to balance the demands of high-acuity care with the realities of supporting a dispersed workforce in a mountain environment. For years, the organization relied on traditional biometric screenings and periodic wellness activities, but leadership struggled to create a program that felt connected to everyday clinical care, sustained employee engagement, or delivered meaningful population health insight. As the workforce grew and needs became more complex, AVH faced increasing pressure to find a more cohesive strategy, one that aligned wellness with primary care, strengthened continuity for employees, and supported a culture focused on both wellbeing and high performance.

AVH didn’t lack tools; it lacked cohesion. HR responsibilities were spread across a small team and multiple vendors, resulting in a disjointed member experience, uneven engagement, and limited visibility into outcomes. Administration and reporting were manual and slow, leaving leaders without a clear picture of ROI. AVH needed a strategic partner to bring everything together by integrating stakeholders, managing incentives end-to-end, sustaining adoption year-round, and delivering visible value for employees, spouses, managers, and executives.

Healthbreak provided the partnership AVH needed, administering the Live Your Best Life program on Personify Health and guiding the strategy for results. Our role went beyond platform management—we unified screenings, incentives, and communications into a single wellness ecosystem. This included evolving the screening process to leverage AVH’s internal clinical network, transitioning from stand-alone biometric events to coordinated primary care visits that strengthened provider relationships and aligned preventive care with employee wellbeing goals. Through strategic consulting, tailored campaigns, and ongoing account management, AVH evolved its wellness program into a model of consistency and measurable success.

Enrollment is only the first step. Aspen Valley Health’s sustained engagement became the engine that powered every other result. With Healthbreak’s partnership, AVH employee participation consistently sits 10 to 15 points above benchmark through well-timed incentives, social challenges, and targeted campaigns.

Employees achieved sustained behavior change with clear clinical impact:

 Wellness participation directly linked to stronger workforce stability:

A decreased turnover rate was critical in bringing down replacement costs, while also leading to improved continuity in critical hospital roles. AVH’s program consistently delivers results that outperform industry benchmarks, translating engagement into healthier employees, reduced HR costs, and visible organizational value.

Aspen Valley Health demonstrates that even a small community health system can achieve enterprise-level wellness results with the right partner. By working with Healthbreak, AVH has built a program that delivers across the board—driving workforce adoption, retention, measurable health improvements, and organizational impact. Healthbreak’s ability to customize programs to each client’s evolving needs—such as integrating AVH’s clinical network into its wellness strategy—ensures lasting relevance and meaningful impact across all levels of the organization.

If you’re ready to see how Healthbreak can transform your wellness program into a proven driver of wellness culture, retention, and outcomes—let’s talk.

📩 Schedule a demo, or contact us at info@healthbreakinc.com