Ingalls Shipbuilding Named Mississippi’s Healthiest Workplace
Ed Hagar (center) accepted the Mississippi Business Journal's Healthiest Workplace Award on behalf of Ingalls Shipbuilding. Hagar, Ingalls’ manager of compensation, benefits and HRIS, is pictured with Tami Jones, associate publisher of the Mississippi Business Journal, and Murray Harber, executive director of the Mississippi Business Group on Health. (Photo: Bill Glenn/HII)
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division took top honors in the Mississippi Business Journal’s Healthiest Workplace Awards, placing first in the mega large business category. The awards recognize employers throughout the state who strive to provide exceptional employee health and wellness programs and promote safe working environments.
“A company can only be as strong as its people,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “That is why Ingalls Shipbuilding is dedicated to providing multiple health and wellness services to our employees. From a state-of-the-art health center in Gautier that provides timely, low-cost, high-quality health care to employees and their families, to an employee resource program that supports our shipbuilders overall health and well-being, Ingalls is proud of the innovative and healthy ways we care for our workforce.”
The Mississippi Business Journal highlighted Ingalls’ health-related program called “Be Well.” The “Be Well” program has three health initiatives providing the basis for the company’s health and wellness.
The HII Family Health Center, which celebrated its one-year anniversary on July 1, provides off-site healthcare to Ingalls’ employees and their dependents. It has a staffed wellness team to assist physicians in helping patients create and maintain a healthy lifestyle, including nutrition and overall health counseling. The health center, operated by QuadMed, also has an on-site pharmacy where patients can receive prescriptions for as low as $3 a month for a 30-day supply.
The Ingalls on-site wellness program operated by Interactive Health provides on-site health screenings and flu shots and facilitates company-wide physical activity challenges like the Ingalls’ annual couch-to-5k competition, urging employees to participate in the company’s annual 5K on the Causeway, which benefits Special Olympics Mississippi. The company also has an on-site fitness center with cardiovascular and strength equipment, a full-court gym and various group exercise classes.
The employee assistance program serves employees’ mental health by providing drug and alcohol addiction counseling among other mental health services.
“We work very hard to keep an active and healthy workforce,” said Program Manager Joni Goodman. “The ‘Be Well’ program provides the health needs for all our employees. But what really makes Ingalls stand apart is the care they take not only for their employees, but for their families and the entire Gulf Coast community.”
Mississippi’s Healthiest Workplace Awards program is a collaborative effort made by the Mississippi Business Group on Health, the Mississippi Business Journal, the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Mississippi Association of Self-Insurers.
