HEALTHPLEX
HAPPENINGS HEALTHPLEX
Volume 2 Issue 4 4TH QUARTER 2023
HOLDS 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
A MEDICAL FITNESS MAGAZINE WWW.HEALTHPLEXASSOCIATES.COM
Your leader in Wellness and Fitness
HEALTHPLEX ASSOCIATES
CONTACTS Central Office
(412) 721-9469 827 Eight Street Verona, PA 15147
Website www.healthplexassociates.com
Email ddoyle@healthplexassociates.com
HEALTHPLEX HAPPENINGS
CONTENTS 1 18th Annual Conference
2 The Center for Fitness & Health
5
The Wellness Center of URMC
8 Mission Fitness 13 The EQT REC Center 15 Anderson Health & Fitness 17 Matagorda Wellness Center 18 HealthWorks Fitness
21 Singing River Healthplex
24 Indianapolis Healthplex
28 Montage Wellness Center
31 SBH Healthplex
2 Tim Livingstone is promoted as the new Fitness Director of The Center for Health and Wellness.
32 Henry Mayo Fitness & Health
HEALTHPLEX ASSOCIATES 2023 ANNUAL MANAGEMENT RETREAT The leadership at HPA understands that hospitals, health systems and other medical and healthcare professionals must create comprehensive solutions to meet the needs of healthcare organizations for wellness, prevention, fitness, and ambulatory care in their communities. Promoting healthy lifestyles through hospital-based wellness centers is no longer a side business, it has moved to the core of health care delivery with population health management. The Medical Fitness Association recently shared a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that concludes “membership at a medical fitness facility was associated with a reduced risk of allcause mortality and hospitalizations.” Our senior management team is dedicated to staying on top of, and getting ahead of, the changes, trends, innovations and developments in medical wellness and lifestyle management.
While HPA managers, from 13 managed sites across the country, meet monthly through virtual settings, there is no replacing our in-person Annual Education and Leadership Retreat to review, discuss and brainstorm trends and opportunities in medical wellness. This year’s meeting was held in Monterey CA, where we were fortunate to have keynote speaker Dr. Kent Adams, California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) chair of Exercise Science, present the latest trends in Exercise Physiology. Other highlights of the conference included: Best Practices for Electronic Health Records (EHR) to grow membership and support clinical referrals, Social Media Marketing and Analytic Reporting, and the Medicare Advantage impact on the Medical Wellness Industry. As a company, we are proud of our impact on the industry and our partnership with clients. The opportunity to get all our senior leaders together will continue to foster our growth and development and bring value to our clients.
Page 1
Meet Tim Livingstone
The Center for Fitness and Health (Pennsylvania) has announced the promotion of Tim Livingstone into role of Fitness Director. Tim has worked at the facility as a personal trainer for 14 years, serving as lead personal trainer for the last seven years. In regards to his new position, Tim said “I’m beyond honored to serve our members as the new Fitness Director. I look forward to helping our facility continue its development as a staple of the community.”
Page 2
The Center for Fitness and Health (CFH) would like to congratulate the Belle Vernon High School football team on winning back to back state championships. Many of the players and their families are members at CFH. Additionally, Fitness Director Tim Livingstone is the Head Football Strength and Conditioning coach at Belle Vernon. He’s been on staff since 2015, and Tim was an intricate part in helping the team win the state championships in 2022 and 2023. He’s passionate about building relationships with his players, having more than half the team join at the center (pictured below). About his players, Tim said “it goes beyond the field. We have a responsibility as coaches, both football and exercise, to help these young men grow into productive members of society. Some of my players come from broken homes, but our center gives them that family atmosphere that some wouldn’t experience otherwise.”
Page 3
Center for Fitness and Health Hosts Breast Cancer Walk
Page 4
On October 14, 2023, the Center for Fitness and Health hosted the 20th Annual Lois Orange Ducoeur Breast Cancer Walk for Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital. This event marked another successful year raising almost $10,000. With heavy rains outside, more than 160 participants gathered on the Center for Fitness and Health’s indoor track. Led by the breast cancer survivors, participants walked one mile on the track. This year’s event focused on celebrating the survivors, supporting those in battle, and remembering those that were lost. Kristy Fabean, CFH’s lead group exercise instructor, provided the warm up for the group and participated in the walk. Kristy said, “It is an amazing feeling to be surrounded by these women who have fought breast cancer. There is so much love and appreciation in the air at this event.”
In October, The Wellness Center of URMC (Thomaston, GA) celebrated its 17th Anniversary with a Member Appreciation and Open House. There were refreshments, door prizes, and photo ops under a Halloween backdrop, which the members loved. The best part of serving this community is the people! The Wellness Center of URMC looks forward to continuing to serve members for many years to come. Page 5
Member Spotlight:
Joseph Hall An Ironman competition is fierce and only the most determined can complete it. Joseph Hall, a member of the 352 Combat Sustainment Battalion, completed the Ironman 70.3 in Chattanooga, TN in May. The half Ironman consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride, and a 13.1-mile run. Hall did not stop there. He then completed the full Ironman in Chattanooga in September, which consisted of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. He finished with a time of 15 hours, 42 minutes, and 43 seconds. Hall also earned the Lookout Challenge medal by completing both Chattanooga Ironman races in the same calendar year. Joseph Hall trained around Upson County, including the pool at the Wellness Center of URMC.
Page 6
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR Members always enjoy the annual Open House and Christmas Bazaar at The Wellness Center of URMC in Thomaston. This was a free, family-friendly event that was open for members and community alike, where attendees are able to sip coffee, nibble on Christmas cookies, and shop local vendors for that last minute, one-of-a-kind Christmas gift, as well as participate in Christmas-themed group exercise classes.
Page 7
10th Annual Desert Dash Mission Fitness (Odessa, TX) hosted their tenth annual Desert Dash on Saturday, October 14th as close to 200 runners and walkers participated in this event that benefits the Medical Center Hospital System Foundation. The Desert Dash consists of a 2K walk, 5K run and 10K run to accommodate runners and walkers of all abilities. John Douthitt, GM of Mission Fitness explains how this event came to exist, “This event is an offshoot of the old Cross Roads Marathon. When the former host decided to discontinue their event, Mission Fitness decided to continue with the 5k run and 10k run, as these two events experienced the most participation. We added the 2k walk a couple of years ago as an easy introduction to event participation and to accommodate runners and walkers regardless of experience or ability. Over time, we hope to see our 2k walkers graduate to the 5k run and 5k runners to the 10k.” This annual event raises funds for the MCHS Foundation and was able to contribute $3,000 to this worthy cause in 2023. The Foundation exists to support community health in the Permian Basin and its outreach has included Children’s Miracle Network, Patient Navigation programs, Friends of Nursing Fund, MSCHSF Victim Assistance Fund and the COVID-19 Fund. Page 8
Pumpkin Carving Contest Mission Fitness hosted its first pumpkin carving contest for the various departments in the Center for Health and Wellness. This fun event had 18 entries that included departments and individuals. The membership of Mission Fitness voted to determine the favorite pumpkins. Carmen Kenner, Mission Fitness Member Services Director and mastermind behind this first-time event explains its purpose, “The idea was to create greater interaction between the departments in our facility and to help people from the various departments get to know one another.”
Page 9
Members and employees of Mission Fitness joined forces to help Santa get from Odessa, TX to the North Pole in time for Christmas, which is a distance of 4,023 miles. The participants were encouraged to log their daily mileage through the Mission Fitness App or manually at the front desk, and had the choice of walking, running, rowing, climbing, biking or using the elliptical trainers to reach the goal. While we fell just short of our goal, we are happy to report that Santa, through his own magic, made it home in time to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve and our participants entered the holiday season healthier than in years past. Page 10
Meal Prep for Healthy Holidays Jenna Huffman, Mission Fitness’ Clinical Coordinator, hosted a series of cooking and baking demonstrations as well as meal preparation programs for the members of Mission Fitness and citizens of the Permian Basin.
Participants walked away from each presentation with guidelines to follow, healthy recipes and cooking tips after sampling everything from full meals to holiday treats prepared in a healthy manner. “The idea is to equip our community with tips and tricks to not sabotage their eating plans during the holiday season and to understand that healthy doesn’t equate to tasteless,” stated Ms. Huffman. These events averaged about 12 participants and will continue into the new year. Page 11
14th Annual Food Drive The staff of Mission Fitness decided to adopt a family in need this year and sponsor an Angel Tree for Christmas. The family selected was a single mother of five. Staff and members picked ornaments from the tree that described a gift the family could use this year. The gifts were presented to the recipient on Page 12 December 22nd.
Mission Fitness hosted its 14th annual Food Drive benefitting the West Texas Foodbank. The drive begins the week after Thanksgiving and concludes the Friday prior to Christmas. This is our way of giving back to those in need during the holiday season.
Angel Tree
Pickleball Champions The EQT Rec Center in Waynesburg, PA held the 2nd annual Thanksgiving Classic Pickleball Tournament on November 18th, 2023, and it was a blast! We had 27 teams compete and we are looking forward to the next one we have on January 20, 2024. Pictured above are some of our doubles winners for the women and men’s divisions.
Page 13
On December 3rd the EQT Rec Center cheer team competed in the Erie competition and placed second and third in their respective categories. Team Fierce took home third place and Team Elite took home second place! Our Cheer teams are doing a fantastic job as we transition from recreational rules to U. S. All Star Federation rules and competitions. This level of competition is much higher than what our girls have been used to, but they are definitely showing their talents in the ranks! Our Cheerleaders also participated in Greene County’s annual Christmas parade.
Page 14
GIVING IS A CORE VALUE AT ANDERSON HEALTH & FITNESS CENTER In 2023, AHFC (Meridian, MS) held a toy drive where their members collected over 20 toys and books to support a local foster program. AHFC’s staff also adopted a local foster child and senior citizen and provided them with their Christmas wishes.
Page 15
Bryce Branning, the Fitness Director of Anderson Health & Fitness Center, is proud to welcome his and Brooke’s son, Jade Taylor Branning. Jade was born 11/5/2023.
WELCOME Martez Watson, a Personal Trainer at AHFC, is proud to welcome his and Tykia Watts’ son, Tatum Kyle Watson. Tatum was born on 12/08/23.
Page 16
This past fall the Wellness Center at Matagorda Regional Medical Center in Bay City, TX began offering a new class, S.E.A.T., with group fitness instructor Kathy McDaniel. Kathy, a retired associate high school principal, recently chose to become certified as a S.E.A.T. instructor this year so that she could bring a new type of chair-based exercise program for the active aging population at the Wellness Center. S.E.A.T. stands for Supported Exercise for Ageless Training. This groundbreaking, supported chair-based exercise program provides a low impact workout for participants of all ages and fitness abilities. Page 17
GROUP FITNESS COORDINATOR Lacey Nation has recently been promoted to HealthWorks Group Fitness Coordinator. She was born and raised here in El Dorado, AR. Having a passion for all things fitness, she is also an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and Pilates Instructor. Growing up, she was always involved in sports, such as soccer, cheer, track and volleyball. After high school, she turned her focus towards the gym and weight training. Lacey stated, “I have been consistently active in the gym since 2015 and the growth and changes I’ve experienced made me realize that I wanted to share this passion with others.” After graduating college, becoming a Radiologic Technologist, and having two boys, she decided to get serious with helping others reach their health and fitness goals and pursue her personal training certification. Now she is able to do just that! Page 18
HealthWorks 2023 Destination Swim Challenge
Jim Bullock completed the Little Missouri River in December 2023 Lucy Bullock completed the Little Red River in December 2023
Melinda Verdesca completed the Little Missouri River in September 2023
HealthWorks 2023 Destination Swim Challenge is a self-paced lap challenge sponsored by our member Daniel Rivers, owner of Rivers Investment Group. The destinations are rivers found here in Arkansas. The first destination is the Little Red River, 105 miles or 3,465 laps, located in Central Arkansas. A more challenging destination is the Little Missouri River, 147 Miles or 4,851 laps, located in South Central Arkansas. Out of 17 members who started the challenge, 6 members reached their destination! Page 19
Mike Klun completed the Little Missouri River in September 2023
Arjun Chimote completed the Little Red River in December 2023
Larry Weaver completed the Little Red River in December 2023
Page 20
We’re fueling hope with every drop! In 2023, Singing River Healthplex (Pascagoula, MS) assisted the Singing River Health System Blood Center with 9 blood drives, and together, saved around 1,257 lives! Generous blood donations showcase the incredible impact we can make together, as we continue making a difference in our community through our 2024 blood drives! Page 21
Singing River Healthplex partnered with their local school district to collect donations for theToys for Tots Foundation to help needy children have happy holidays. Toys for Tots is a national charity program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Toys are collected and distributed to less fortunate children whose parents may be struggling financially and unable to purchase gifts during the traditional Christmas Holiday Season.
Page 22
Recently the ‘Be Balanced’ core strengthening program at Singing River Healthplex, an innovative results-driven program that guarantees a 100% increase in BALANCE & 150% increase in CORE STABILITY, was presented to a group of providers at Singing River Health System as a referral option for patients that failed their fall-prevention questionnaire at their scheduled wellness visits with their primary care physicians. This approach resulted in the Healthplex Wellness Center receiving 27 referrals in one day through the hospitals EMR system. Page 23
Fall Red Ball Match Play Indianapolis Healthplex hosted a Fall Red Ball Match Play tennis tournament. Players go through Red, Orange, and Green ball clinics to build a strong technical foundation. Studentcentered teaching is led by certified tennis professionals. The Red Ball clinic had a big turn out for the 5-7 year old players pictured below.
Page 24
Indianapolis Healthplex
Trine University Skills for Success Clinic Indianapolis Healthplex Partnered with Trine University & hosted a free basketball clinic for our members and the community. The Skills for Success Clinic was an amazing opportunity for the kids to learn from experienced athletes while also gaining important skills that will benefit them off the court. The Trine Basketball Team did an exceptional job of creating a fun and positive learning environment that was both engaging and informative. From teamwork and communication to leadership and perseverance, the kids walked away from the clinic with a newfound sense of confidence and determination. Trine University is a great partner as they share our commitment to helping young people succeed in all areas of life, and we look forward to seeing what they have in store for future clinics!
Page 25
DEKA NEWS Congratulations to our amazing Indianapolis Healthplex members, Carolyn Higginbotham and Karla Johnson! On December 2nd, they competed in the DEKA Worlds competition in Dallas, TX and left us speechless with their incredible results. Karla improved her DEKA Fit time by 5 minutes, finishing in 51 minutes and 16 seconds, earning her the 5th position. Carolyn, finished the DEKA Strong at 6th place in her age group, with a personal best time of 21:56. We are incredibly proud of both of them and their determination to succeed.
DEKA CHALLENGE AT INDIANAPOLIS HEALTHPLEX
The December DEKA Challenge was a 2-person team competition that took place on December 2nd from 9-11am. There were divisions for adult males, females, and co-ed, as well as youth (10-13) males, females, and co-ed. The challenge consisted of two 5minute periods. The first period involved the team completing as many calories on the Air Bike as possible, while in the second period, the team aimed to complete as many Dead Ball Shoulder Over reps as possible. The two teammates were able to alternate on both exercises using a strategy of their choice. Many participants joined the DEKA community and challenged themselves!
Page 26
TIS THE SEASON OF
GIVING
As the holiday season approached, our team decided it was time to give back to the community. We partnered with Summers Heating and Cooling to host a food and clothing drive for the Wheeler Mission, a non-profit organization that provides food, shelter, and care to those in need. The response from our members was overwhelming, and we were able to collect a significant amount of donations. But that's not all - Summers Heating and Cooling matched every donation we received, doubling the impact we were able to make. Our members were thrilled to be a part of such a meaningful initiative, and we wanted to show our appreciation for their generosity. For every 5 items donated per day, members received a guest pass, making it a win-win situation for everyone involved. As December approached, we knew we wanted to do more. We partnered with Unto Him Ministries, a local church, to make Christmas special for families in need. They provided us with a tree adorned with ornaments, each tag representing a child's age and their holiday wish. Our members took the tags, shopped for the gifts, and returned with arms full of presents. Seeing the tree transform from empty to overflowing with presents was heartwarming and inspiring. Overall, our season of giving was a huge success, thanks to the support of our members and our partners. We are grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those in need and look forward to continuing to give back to our community in the future.
Page 27
Our Zumba® team hosted three special events that celebrated three major holidays including Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/New Year themes. Members and guests were invited to participate in these extended Zumba® sessions that were hosted on the weekends and included all of our instructors. The Halloween was a special hit and included a costume contest, as was the Christmas pajama dance party.
Page 28
12-Days of • “Fitmas” Returns • To go beyond a normal fitness/gym experience we brought back a fun scavenger hunt theme daily activity for our members in December. Our staff promoted themebased scavenger hunts in which members receive a prize for simply finding one of the special items hidden in our facility. We called it our “12 days of Fitmas” scavenger hunt. Each day over 10 small presents were hidden throughout the facilities in Marina and Salinas. Members who located the fitness prizes were able to collect a gift at the front desk. Some of the gifts included water bottles, t-shirts, gym bags, and headphones. We even gave away some personal training sessions and 1-month memberships.
Page 29
Turkey Trot
Montage Wellness Center also hosted our annual Thanksgiving Day Tukey trot. This event is a 5K event held at our Marina, CA facility on Thanksgiving morning. Over 100 participants signed up for the event. Everyone received a tshirt, finisher medal and refreshments after the race. Many members comment that this event is a special way that they spend Thanksgiving morning, especially for members that don’t have family visiting for the holiday. Page 30
SBH Health System Rings The Nasdaq Opening Bell The SBH Health System, including the SBH Healthplex, located in Bronyx, NY, had the privilige of ringing the opening bell for the stock market Nasdaq on Wednesday, January 3, 2034. Page 31
Sports Performance Program
Clare Legaspi Over the last two years Henry Mayo Fitness & Health (Valencia, CA) has had the pleasure of working with Clare Legaspi in the sport performance program. Clare received her pro card with the LPGA in 2021 after graduating from UCLA. After a shoulder injury derailed her 2022 season she started working with Fitness Director Russell Gage in addition to doing physical therapy in order to rehab the shoulder and get in better physical shape to return to golfing again. After a long recovery with some setbacks that held her back from being competitive in the 2023 season, she is healthy, strong and off to compete in her first tours of 2024. Clare is set to compete in the Thai LPGA, Taiwan LPGA, and the women's pro tour (WAPT) in Texas this year. We wish her all the best! Page 32
e m o c Wel DANI PREPON Dani Prepon joined our team this December and has been a practicing massage therapist for over 20 years. Dani brings her expertise of medical massage and craniosacral therapy to better help our clinical members and referrals. She also has experience in Neuromuscular Therapy, Swedish, Deep Tissue, Trigger Point Therapy, PIR Stretching, Reflexology, Shiatsu, Lymphatic Drainage and Visceral Manipulation. We are excited to have her as part of the team! Page 33
Holiday Traditions We started a new tradition this year with our Annual Turkey Burn. We wanted an event that anyone could join and brought different interest groups together! Members from Group Exercise, Personal Training and Independent Training all came together to train! Even our Membership Director, Jennifer Quinn, brought her family in for fun and a good workout before a big Thanksgiving dinner! Coach Argel led the workout with grit and modifications to reach all levels who joined us! It was a 90minute program filled with fun partner work, stations and drills in the gymnasium! Creating community is a strength and this Turkey Burn was yet another great event to bring us all together!
Elf on the Shelf had our members going crazy!! The competition was fierce and the daily goal to find this Elf was so much fun. This is our second year with Elf on the Shelf and members asked for it midNovember. Our staff had fun hiding Fitty (our elf) and started getting tricky with our hiding Page 34 locations.
HPA Services YOUR PARTNER IN WELLNESS AND FITNESS
HPA Services: WWW.HEALTHPLEXASSOCIATES.COM
Feasibility Study New Construction Management Operational Assessment Population Health