GUC received two recognitions for its stellar employee wellness programs. These recognitions acknowledge that our wellness programs are comprehensive and foster employee well-being and vitality by offering whole-person consideration and care.
Cigna Healthy Workforce Gold Rating
GUC received the highest designation a company can earn for the second time after being awarded the 2025 Cigna Healthy Workforce Gold Rating.
GUC earned the same designation for its 2024 wellness programs and has since added initiatives that further highlight the organization’s commitment to the health and wellness of employees.
The Gold Designation from Cigna recognizes GUC for its offerings such as the onsite Clinic, free membership to the Greenville Aquatics and Fitness Center, online nutrition coaching, the Cigna Employee Assistance Program, wellness apps, personal health metrics, free fitness mini sessions, tobacco cessation resources, a company-wide tobacco policy, and stress management programs.
“We’ve added wellness initiatives since the last time we were awarded this designation in 2024,” said HR Business Partner and Wellness Champion Committee Member Cort Bazemore. “We are beginning to focus on mental health with the new pilot program that offers licensed clinical counselor appointments at the clinic. This is a step in the right direction. We hosted a Lunch and Learn to offer more awareness about this program and encouraged supervisors to talk about this new offering with employees.”
HR Director Richie Shreves said including a mental health aspect into the Clinic’s services offers a more holistic approach to employee health and wellness that contributes to an overall healthy workforce.
“It looks like GUC employees are taking part in this new program,” Richie said. “The Lunch and Learn was well attended with a good mix of employees. The clinician is now available for up to four hours a week at the clinic. More people are recognizing mental health is important and a significant part of overall well-being.”
Read more about this new program here.
GUC offers an array of wellness programs, which further contributes to earning Cigna’s top-tier rating. It is the one-on-one discussions with HR Business Partners about wellness benefits and the ongoing initiatives from the employee-led Wellness Committee speak to the culture-of-health approach that thrives at GUC.
“The Wellness Committee has done an amazing job with the support of the General Manager’s Office. The Wellness Champions are essential to our programs,” Cort said.
She highlighted the wellness activities presented by the Committee, including interagency sports teams, wellness walks, healthy recipe sharing, lunch and learns, and Wellness Champions who are also advocates for pursuing healthy lifestyles.
American Heart Association Silver Recognition
The American Heart Association awarded GUC the Silver Recognition for the 2026 Well-being Works Better Scorecard again. The scorecard process requires answering a series of questions about what GUC offers for employee wellness, both mental and physical.
“We remained at the Silver level this year, but our scores did improve based on more wellness programs we were able to offer,” Cort said.
The Well-being Works Better is a program for fostering and evolving a healthy work culture while supporting employees’ health—mind, heart, and body. The Well-being Works Better Scorecard helps organizations assess their health and wellbeing strategy based on top best practices.
“At the heart of every thriving organization is a workforce that feels valued and supported,” said American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown. “We’re honored to recognize organizations that have made employee well-being a cornerstone of their culture through the Well-being Works Better Scorecard.”
