At Redstone FCU, Healthy Employees Make Engaged Employees

A CU works to build a healthier workforce in Alabama, a state that consistently ranks as one of the nation’s unhealthiest.

A Redstone employee works out at the onsite gym during her lunch.

Redstone Federal Credit Union’s Employee Wellness Program is building a healthier workforce in a state that consistently ranks as one of the nation’s unhealthiest. As word of its wellness quest spreads, Redstone has cemented its role as an “employer of choice” that attracts job seekers.

Redstone is Alabama’s largest credit union and has always had a solid reputation of offering good benefits. However, a few years ago, President/CEO Joe Newberry decided that preventative care needed a greater focus.

So, in April 2011, Redstone opened an onsite clinic with a full-time certified nurse practitioner – only the second corporate in-house clinic operating in the Huntsville, Ala., area at that time.

The clinic became the anchor of Redstone’s burgeoning Wellness Program that has grown to include:

According to Newberry, the credit union had to apply the industry’s philosophy of “people helping people” to itself.

“We take care of everybody else and forget to take care of ourselves. We give our employees the resources to do that at work,” he said.

Today, both Redstone and its employees are reaping the benefits. The credit union’s employees are healthier and more productive, and turnover is less than 9%, which compares to a banking and finance industry turnover average of 16.7%, according to Compdata.

In addition, employees have saved more than $880,000 in co-pays, saved time with no-wait appointments and improved their overall health.

“Our benefits package is an industry leader,” Wendy Edmonds, vice president of human resources at Redstone, said. “If you were to put an amount to it, it would increase an employee’s annual compensation by 42%.”

The Employee Wellness program, along with salary and other benefits, is definitely a selling point for the credit union. “If a job candidate is weighing multiple offers, our Wellness Program generally seals the deal,” Edmonds said.

Job retention is also positively affected by the program. Some employees delay retirement and work longer so they can keep their benefits intact, according to Mary Fisher, manager of benefits and performance management for Redstone.

Clinic Addresses Employee Needs

Nurse Lisa Rhodes takes the vitals of a Redstone employee in the credit union’s onsite clinic.

Redstone saw the wellness benefits as an opportunity to make a difference in its employees’ lives and impact a disturbing trend. Reports, such as the 2018 America’s Health Rankings Annual Reports, consistently rank Alabama as one of the unhealthiest states. It was number 48 – or second from the bottom – in that ranking. Tennessee, where Redstone has four branches, ranks 42nd.

The onsite clinic is helping reduce medical expenses and educates employees on how their lifestyle and actions affect their health.

Since opening in 2011, the clinic’s nurse practitioner, Lisa Rhodes, has handled over 17,000 appointments. Nurse Lisa, as she is affectionately called, diagnoses and treats common and chronic illnesses, gives allergy shots, draws blood for comprehensive metabolic panels, follows up from urgent care or ER visits and much more. She has also conducted resiliency workshops that teach participants how to handle life’s stressors.

“The key to a successful clinic is having the right person there. We have the right nurse,” Fisher said. “Our employees love her.”

The clinic also helps keep Redstone’s prescription drug costs down as the generic prescription usage has increased. That also means less money being spent out of pocket for employees. In addition, the nurse handles Redstone’s pre-employment drug screening.

For any credit union or other organization looking to open an onsite clinic, the higher the employee numbers, the more cost-effective it becomes. Redstone’s workforce is right at 1,000 employees now, with most located within 30 minutes of the main office. Those numbers have helped tip the success formula in the credit union’s favor.

Genetic Screening Gives Employees Control

“I think if people knew their health numbers, it would help them take better care of themselves,” Newberry said.

Redstone is currently working toward offering a genetic testing service for its employees. These tests will screen for mutations in the well-known BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and allow individuals to better understand their genetic risk for breast, ovarian, colon and other cancers.

This genetic test is the same one Redstone sponsored for its community from 2016 to 2018, in conjunction with HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and Kailos Genetics. It was offered free to those ages 28 to 32 who lived in North Alabama. After seeing how it prompted people to be proactive about their health, Redstone executives decided to explore the opportunity to offer it to their employees.

Redstone is also exploring Pharmacogenomics Testing for employees, also through HudsonAlpha and Kailos Genetics. This test shows the effectiveness and potential side effects of certain medications considering an individual’s genetic makeup. This information helps medical providers and patients find the most effective drug treatments.

Redstone hopes to have both of these tests available to employees in the near future.

When it comes to deciding what employees most want, Redstone has found that it is often on target. Here’s some proof: A recent study by MetLife Employee Benefits Trends listed the top things employees want from their workplace, and included on the list were genetic testing and onsite medical and mental health care.

Jan Bias

Jan Bias is EVP, People & Culture for Redstone FCU. She can be reached at 256-722-3434 or jbias@redfcu.org.

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