Boulder County's Commitment to Employee Wellness Drives Health Improvements and National Recognition
Client Background
Boulder County is a prominent public-sector employer in Colorado, serving over 2,500 employees and approximately 830 spouses covered by their health plans. Boulder County partnered with Healthbreak to support their ambitious Wellness Champions Vision: To have the healthiest and most productive employees in the nation. Boulder County’s wellness vision necessitates innovative programs to complement a culture of wellbeing, boost employee productivity, and reduce overall healthcare costs. The Boulder County Wellness Program supports and encourages all employees and their families to achieve optimal health and well-being and lower health care costs through dynamic and innovative programs.
The Challenge:
Healthbreak was tasked with solving the following challenges through platforms, programs, and implementation with Boulder County:
Increasing employee engagement with existing programs
Supporting wellness culture by promoting healthy lifestyle choices, employee activity, and measurably improving outcomes for high-risk team members
Providing high-touch daily wellness offerings and support for an increasingly remote workforce
Consolidating the wellness benefits program, which had been scattered across multiple interfaces and platforms.
As Boulder County’s workforce evolved, their wellness program encountered new challenges, including a decline in employee participation, a rise in remote employees, and limitations from a prior platform. The need was clear. Boulder County was ready for a flexible, comprehensive personal platform to engage employees and deliver measurable success.
The Healthbreak Solution:
To address these challenges and more, Healthbreak implemented the Personify Health platform (formerly Virgin Pulse), while also integrating additional program enhancements. The new program framework featured:
A Personalized, Digital Platform:
- Live and on-demand webinars tailored to diverse wellness needs
- Engaging, personalized wellness challenges
- Comprehensive lifestyle coaching, including physical, mental, and financial coaching available remotely
Engaging Incentive Programs:
- Dynamic, gamified points-based reward systems encouraging sustained employee participation
- Personalized wellness pathways to align with individual goals and interests
One-Stop Wellness Hub:
- A centralized, easy-to-use digital platform consolidating wellness resources and benefits in one location
- Better interface and simplified user experience, driving higher engagement
The end result was a user-friendly wellness platform, optimized for individual use. This platform also offered employees improved insight into their personal health journey through better metrics and data reporting.
Using the Personify Health program as the framework, Healthbreak created and delivered custom wellness challenges, high-touch lifestyle programs, coaching, and live webinars to the Boulder County staff, with the goal of improving outcomes and engagement. Additionally, Healthbreak customized the platform to offer robust wellbeing education content across all wellbeing vectors, with the goal of meaningful, immediate-impact education.
The updated points-and-levels incentive system served as a flexible, fun, user-friendly activity reinforcer, and allowed claiming incentives right within the wellness portal.
Impactful Results (2020-2024)
The Personify Health platform also offered a significant boost in reporting capabilities, which had previously been a pain point. Armed with newfound data and metrics, Boulder County measured the impact Healthbreak’s programs and education delivered to their employees, and the results were incredible. Healthbreak set out to:
Implementing high-touch education and engaging programs lead to the following outcomes:
Measurable Outcome Improvements:
- 72% of previously inactive employees increased their physical activity
- 79% of high-risk participants successfully lowered blood pressure levels
- 51% of high-risk participants achieved significant BMI reductions
- 16 cohort participants reduced significant health risks to less than 3
Improved Employee outcomes
Record-High Enrollment:
- Wellness program participation increased to an all-time high of 1,900 participants (68% of eligible employees), representing a 9% growth since implementation.
Enrollment Milestones
Improved Employee Satisfaction:
- 85% reported high satisfaction with wellness program offerings and engagement methods
Increased Activity Levels:
- Employees collectively logged 1.2 billion steps in a single year, averaging 7,242 steps per participant daily
“For nearly 20 years, Healthbreak has been more than just a wellness vendor—they’ve become a trusted partner and a true extension of Boulder County. Their seamless integration with our team and strong understanding of our culture have made executing our wellness program effortless and effective. Our dedicated Account Manager, Anji, consistently brings fresh, creative ideas—from engaging communications and custom-designed challenges to tailored presentations for individual departments. Thanks to Healthbreak’s consistent support and innovation, Boulder County has been recognized as one of the Healthiest 100 Employers every year since 2015. Together, we’ve created a culture where employee well-being is prioritized and a healthier workplace thrives.”
– Emily I. Cooper, Benefits Manager | Boulder County Human Resources Department
Recognitions and Benefits
Boulder County’s commitment to wellness earned notable national recognition, underscoring the success of their partnership with Healthbreak:
- Ranked in top 10 nationally since 2021
- Ranked 1st place in Denver and 6th nationally in 2023
- Ranked 8th nationally in 2024
- Inaugural inductee into the Healthiest Employers Hall of Fame in 2022
- Ranked in “Springbuk’s Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America” for nine consecutive years.
Recipient of the 2021 Cigna Outstanding Well Being Award.
Named a 2022 Denver Business Journal Healthiest Employer.
Beyond these accolades
Beyond awards and recognitions, Boulder County has established itself as a pioneering organization at the intersection of employee wellness, environmental sustainability, and innovative benefits management—directly supporting employee retention, satisfaction, and productivity.
“For nearly 20 years, Healthbreak has been more than just a wellness vendor—they’ve become a trusted partner and a true extension of Boulder County. Their seamless integration with our team and strong understanding of our culture have made executing our wellness program effortless and effective. Our dedicated Account Manager, Anji, consistently brings fresh, creative ideas—from engaging communications and custom-designed challenges to tailored presentations for individual departments. Thanks to Healthbreak’s consistent support and innovation, Boulder County has been recognized as one of the Healthiest 100 Employers every year since 2015. Together, we’ve created a culture where employee well-being is prioritized and a healthier workplace thrives.”
Emily I. Cooper, SHRM-CP, CCWS, CHRS
Benefits Manager | Boulder County Human Resources Department
Why It Matters
Through strategic collaboration with Healthbreak, Boulder County transformed their wellness program into a sustainable, engaging, and highly effective initiative. By overcoming the challenges of remote engagement, limited reporting, and stagnant participation, Boulder County now showcases the measurable business value and cultural benefits of investing in employee health.
Healthbreak is proud to support Boulder County’s visionary wellness mission and remains committed to helping organizations achieve healthier, happier, and more productive teams.