PBN Healthiest Employers of Rhode Island 2025 Awards
5,000+ EMPLOYEES #1. U-Haul International Inc.
CEO (or equivalent): Edward J. “Joe” Shoen, chairman and CEO
Number of employees: 16,477
IT’S NOT EVERY DAY a company calls one of its benefits “life-changing.” But that’s the word being used to describe the Virta treatment that U-Haul International Inc. provides for its team members.
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Virta is a treatment to reverse Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes, as well as to provide clinical weight loss. Becca Gibson, wellness and total rewards manager for the Arizona-based storage company, which has a base office in West Greenwich, says U-Haul started noticing it had a large population of workers who were struggling with diabetes. “The Virta treatment plan aligned with how we view health and well-being,” Gibson said.
Since offering Virta three years ago, the results have been significant. U-Haul Chief of Staff Jessica Lopez says the treatment plan has allowed many U-Haul team members to lower their A1C, lose weight, and reduce or eliminate the use of insulin.
“Virta’s science-backed nutritional therapy paired with advanced telehealth delivers sustained, life-changing outcomes,” Lopez said. “Virta reverses conditions without the risks, costs or side effects of medications or surgery.”
There is no shortage of success stories from employees, from limbs being saved through the reversal of chronic conditions, to significant pain reduction, weight loss and more. Those results are helping to drive others at U-Haul to join the program.
“In the past year, 22% more people participated,” Lopez said.
Furthermore, in one year, Virta participants have improved their chronic condition gaps in care by 13.7%. U-Haul officials say this statistic shows those who enrolled could address their chronic conditions and seek out care to maintain these conditions properly.
An important key to the program, Gibson says, is that there are resources and tools such as having the ability to create a customized meal plan that best suits the individual. She said the science-backed nutritional therapy has yielded good results for team members.
While there’s much buzz about Virta, U-Haul’s commitment to wellness runs deep. Browse U-Haul’s website for a clue, as the company’s philosophies are spelled out there: “We provide robust wellness benefits, events and resources to help team members become the happiest and healthiest they can be.”
The wellness philosophy rests on five pillars – health, nutrition, mindset, fitness and finances. That’s not just talk. You can see evidence of that effort without looking hard. U-Haul offers programs to assist with gym memberships, sports leagues and fitness apps. At some U-Haul locations, there is a dental office, an on-site clinic that provides primary care, physical therapy and behavioral health services, making it easy for team members to take care of themselves.
Given the importance of nutrition in overall health, U-Haul has reimbursement programs for dietitian consultations or Weight Watchers enrollment. Cooking demonstrations and monthly healthy recipes encourage nutritious home-cooked meals.
U-Haul gets the connection between mental well-being and all other dimensions of wellness, so team members and their families receive free support from mental health professionals through the company’s employee assistance program, in addition to free mindset resources such as meditation classes and webinars.
The financial wellness piece of the pie includes Dave Ramsey’s SmartDollar program, which helps with debt management and strategies for retirement savings. Another plus, team members enjoy free access to financial advisers.
U-Haul is big, with more than 24,000 rental locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. It’s also big on work-life balance. While most team members work in person at company sites, U-Haul’s focus on wellness includes having the option of on-site and remote offerings.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic created an immediate need for specific roles to be offered remotely, and many U-Haul employees had the option to choose whether working from home or in the office was best for them. Five years later, the paradigm has returned to most employees working in person at company sites.
U-Haul’s above-and-beyond approach to wellness works wonders for team members and the company. One employee recalls that since working for U-Haul, the employee’s body mass index has decreased and the lab work from the doctor has almost “unbelievably improved.”
A Healthy Thought:
‘If we support our team members, they will support customers.’
BECCA GIBSONU-Haul International Inc. wellness and total rewards manager
