County warns employees to finish wellness requirements by Dec. 1; leadership retreat set for Dec. 12

Shelly Lowry, director of benefits, and Angela Collins, wellness coordinator, updated the court on the county's employee-wellness program and warned employees the program's deadline for actions is Dec. 1. Lowry said biometric-screening forms take about two weeks to process and that roughly 30% of eligible employees had not yet started the required actions. "There are no exceptions. There are no appeals, and there are no grace periods," Lowry told the court.

County staff outlined communication efforts (emails, postcards, push notifications through the wellness app "Personify" and in-person reminders) and urged department leaders to remind employees and spouses to complete required actions. Collins described incentives and short-term point-earning opportunities, including an EMS 5K and a food drive that can generate app points by self-attestation.

The presenters also announced the county's first in-person Wellness Leadership Retreat for Dec. 12 in Georgetown's Connect Building, sponsored by the judge and several commissioners; the retreat will include program updates, best practices and light refreshments.

Commissioners asked staff to provide clearer reporting to leadership if completion rates remain low; staff said they do not receive final participation reports until the program closes, which constrains earlier targeted outreach to individual employees. Lowry urged employees to contact the Benefits team or the wellness vendor immediately when they hit an issue with submissions.

Provenance: Presentation and Q&A with benefits staff, and commissioner follow-up discussion in the transcript.