St. Louis, Missouri, September 5, 2023 – Lutheran Senior Services (LSS) has been recognized for the 12th consecutive year as one of the Healthiest Employers of St. Louis, an awards program created to honor people-first organizations that prioritize the well-being of their team member population.
LSS, which was ranked #2 in the 1,500 – 4,999 employee category, is one of the largest non-profit senior living providers and offers home and community-based services, affordable housing, and life plan communities throughout Missouri and Illinois.
“It is gratifying to be included as a Healthiest Employer award winner for 12 consecutive years. Ensuring our team members are living their fullest, healthiest lives is always a win,” said Denis Thien, Director of Benefits and Compensation at LSS.
Companies and organizations were recognized for their commitment to workplace wellness and their exceptional health and benefits offerings like increased flexibility, work-life balance, and mental health resources.
LSS supports team members’ wellness in many ways, such as robust health benefits that include medical, vision, and dental coverage plus paid family leave and emotional health resources. The LSS wellness program is focused on helping team members and their families improve their health by engaging in preventive health care. This is incentivized by offering a premium discount of an average of $3,300 per year for completing a biometric screening and engaging with a doctor if the metrics are not in the healthy range or improved over the prior year. More than 60% of LSS team members in the health plan have participated and earned the discount.
“We believe that having a primary care doctor – whether virtual or in-person – and visiting them on a regular basis is the key to healthy team members and a healthy organization,” said Thien.
Award applicants were evaluated across six key categories: Culture and Leadership, Foundational Components, Strategic Planning, Communication and Marketing, Programming and Interventions, and Reporting and Analytics. Completed assessments were ranked with the proprietary Healthiest Employers® Index, a 1-100 rubric for wellness programming. The survey is scored and powered by Springbuk, a health intelligence platform that simplifies data-driven decision-making with an intuitive user experience, predictive modeling, and curated action steps.
“Nothing excites me more than to know our talented staff are healthier today than they were when they joined the LSS team. Our team does much to care for our residents, it’s wonderful to see them taking care of themselves as well,” said Thien.