The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MENTOR WELLNESS CAMPUS PREPARES TO OPEN
LiveHealthy fitness center open house planned in January
The fitness center portion of Lake Health’s new Mentor Wellness Campus will be open just in time for New Year’s resolutions to kick in.
Dubbed LiveHealthy, the center accounts for about 60 percent of the 85,000-squarefoot building at 8655 Market St. It opens to members Jan. 2 with an open house for the public from 2 to 5 p.m., Jan. 6.
The open house will feature wellness activities for the entire family, including 15-minute fitness classes, such as Zumba and Treadmill Rx, chair massages and refreshments. Attendees also will receive a free one-day pass to LiveHealthy to use at their convenience. Self-guided tours will give open house guests a look at programs and services as well as the expansive facility.
“The Mentor Wellness Campus redefines community healthcare by merging traditional medical and fitness capabilities with on-site, clinically supervised wellness programs aimed at improving overall health and wellbeing,” Lake Health President and CEO Cynthia MooreHardy said.
LiveHealthy amenities include:
• Fitness assessments and exercise prescriptions
• State-of-the art exercise equipment • Indoor track • Rock-climbing wall
• Gymnasium (with lines for basketball, volleyball and pickleball)
• Recreation, lap, therapy pools and whirlpool • Group exercise classes • Locker rooms with showers, sauna and steam room
• Kids fitness area and KidHealthy fitness programming • Baby-sitting. LiveHealthy will go beyond a typical gym by providing access to the expertise of degreed exercise specialists, certified personal trainers and group exercise instructors, credentialed aquatics staff and registered dietitians, said LiveHealthy Director Laurie Cingle.
“I don’t think we compete with any fitness center,” she said. “I think every fitness center in our area has its niche.”
Getting on board
The center already has attracted more than 1,000 members.
“It has significantly surpassed what we had planned,” said Lake Health Ambulatory Centers Executive Director Joe Popely. “I think it just speaks to how well-received the entire concept of this type of facility is and how it’s different from any in the area.”
All members will receive fitness assessments and personalized exercise prescriptions, supervised exercise and conditioning and weight and nutrition assessments. Monthly nutrition and education lectures will be open to the public.
“It’s a place where healthy individuals of all ages as well as people with multiple risk factors, including obesity and diabetes, can feel comfortable throughout their journey to wellness,” Popely said.
There is a one-time enrollment fee to cover the cost of the consultation with health-care professionals, plus a monthly membership fee.
The enrollment fees range from $175 for individuals to $250 for family. There also are monthly membership fees: $50 per individual, $75 for couples, $75 for one-parent families, $100 for other families.
Those who become a member by Dec. 30 can save 40 percent on the enrollment fee. A membership sign-up trailer is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Jan. 2.
There is an $11 daily guest fee for those accompanying a member. Each year, nine free guest days are planned.
Popely emphasized that although the fitness center is accessible only to members, all of the other services at Mentor Wellness Campus will be open to the general public.
These services will include an urgent care — relocating from Tyler Boulevard — diagnostic imaging, such as open MRI and general X-ray; physical therapy, including the warm-water therapy pool; occupational health; sports medicine; integrative medicine; and family practice.
Opening by degrees
The various other services at Mentor Wellness Campus will become available gradually throughout January.
The schedule for opening the other aspects of the facility are as follows:
• Lake Health Integrative Medicine Services, Jan. 8 — Healing-oriented medicine that blends modern medicine with evidence-based treatments. Services will include nutrition counseling and wellness coaching combined with therapies such as homeopathic medicine, acupuncture, massage therapy, Reiki, reflexology and stress management. Lake Health Physician Group Integrative Medicine will also relocate to the Mentor Wellness Campus from the Lake Ambulatory Care Center. The practice is comprised of Dr. Harold Bowersox and naturopathic provider Jacob Wolf, who treat a variety of issues including nerve and muscle pain, osteoarthritis, stress, chronic fatigue, chemotherapy-induced nausea, headaches, depression, anxiety, insomnia and chemical dependence.
• Urgent Care Center, Jan. 15 — Along with treatment of non-life-threatening emergencies, the facility will offer occupational health services, X-ray, laboratory services, and drug and alcohol testing for employers.
The Tyler Boulevard urgent care’s last day open will be Jan. 11.
• Lake Health Physician Group Sports Medicine, Jan. 15 — Led by Dr. Brian Juriga, a board-certified physician who specializes in sports medicine for patients of all ages, the practice offers a Fast Track Orthopedic and Sports Injury Clinic and next-day appointments for injured athletes. Performance training will be available for athletes and first-responders.
• Diagnostic Services, Jan. 15 — Along with open MRI, general X-ray and laboratory services, the center will offer state-of-art diagnostic capabilities focused on patient safety and personalized care.
• Lake Health Physician Group Mentor Family Practice, Jan. 22 — The practice consists of board-certified family practitioners. LiveHealthy Medical Director Dr. Robin Znidarsic, will be moving her family practice from Madison.
• Physical Therapy, Jan. 29 — Mentor Physical Therapy, currently located inside Mentor FitWorks, will relocate to the Mentor Wellness Campus.
The history
The $33.5 million Mentor Wellness Campus project — in the works for more than three years — was made possible via several steps, including obtaining permission from the city Planning Commission, City Council and voters to rezone the property from R-4 Single Family Residential to B-2 General Business District.
The change was approved nearly 2 to 1 at the polls in March 2016.
Purchase and development agreements had to be signed by several parties — the school district, city, The Boldt Company and Lake County Ohio Port & Economic Development Authority.
The Port Authority issued bonds to finance the project. The property is owned by the Port Authority and leased to Lake Mentor Properties LLC. It is being subleased to Lake Health for 18 years.
No local taxes are being used to build or run the center.
The project will create 75 jobs and yield $400,000 in property tax revenue for the city. It will employ a total of 150 health-care professionals.
Benefits to the school system, which donated land for the project, include the swim team’s use of the sixlane lap pool, rather than driving to a Geneva facility. The campus also will provide students the opportunity for medical internships.
For more information about the Mentor Wellness Campus and LiveHealthy, visit lakehealth.org or call the Best of Health Line at 440-953-6000.