Lawrence Memorial Hospital is taking steps to shift some of its focus from sick care to well care.
Whether a student athlete wanting to improve strength, a senior citizen wanting to maintain balance or someone just wanting to make healthy lifestyle changes, the new LMH Performance and Wellness Center at Sports Pavilion Lawrence was created to fulfill a mission to offer health and wellness programs for the community.
If you go
To introduce the community to the new LMH Performance and Wellness Center, there will be a free, public open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at Sports Pavilion Lawrence, 100 Rock Chalk Lane. Officials from the city, the Lawrence chamber of commerce and the hospital will participate in a ribbon cutting at 4:30 p.m., followed by refreshments, tours and giveaways.
Photo by Belinda Rehmer
Vic White, a certified health fitness and strength and conditioning specialist, instructs a group of student athletes at the new Lawrence Memorial Hospital Performance and Wellness Center at Sports Pavilion Lawrence, 100 Rock Chalk Lane.
“We’re starting to get deeper into population health and looking at programs that meet those needs," said LMH Chief Operating Officer Karen Shumate. "We’re also consolidating a lot of our wellness activities that we already have through Community Education and then building on that.”
Aynsley Anderson Sosinski, the hospital’s community education coordinator and a Mayo Clinic-certified wellness coach, said LMH will be doing more health screenings, educational programming and wellness coaching at the new wellness center, which opened Jan. 4 in Suite 100 of Sports Pavilion Lawrence, 100 Rock Chalk Lane. The center is accessible from either outside or inside the Sports Pavilion facility.
“We’re also going to start offering wellness coaching for the public,” she said. “Wellness coaching is helping people make and achieve goals for lifestyle changes.”
LMH also has moved its sports performance training program for student athletes from the hospital campus to the new location.
Jaye Cole, director of LMH Therapy Services, believes the move makes sense. “When you think about performance training — where I want to get faster and get stronger to be able to be a better soccer player, volleyball player — coming to the hospital setting, one doesn’t really connect that. That’s a place where you go if you’re sick. I think this will put us in an environment where people are going to recognize what we can do and how we can connect with what they do from an athletic perspective.”
Led by medically-trained specialists, including exercise physiologists and physical therapists with advanced degrees and certifications in athletic training and strength and conditioning, the sports performance program offers age-appropriate, sport-specific training customized to improve speed, strength and agility while also lowering the risk of athletic injury for youth athletes ages 8 to 18. Individual, small group and team training is available. For information about the program, visit lmh.org/perform.
Adam Rolf, who holds a doctorate in physical therapy and is a certified athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist as well as a certified golf fitness instructor, said the LMH program incorporates proven methods for developing functional strength, balance, coordination, footwork, flexibility and proper athletic posture.
“Athletes train in a fun and positive fitness environment that encourages correct techniques and appropriate progression to higher levels of training with a focus on injury prevention,” he said.
Cole added: “We’re hoping to prevent those kinds of injuries, but sometimes things do happen.” She noted the new LMH Performance and Wellness Center is offering services to help athletes rebound after injuries. In addition to the sports performance and wellness services, LMH will provide some of its physical therapy services at the new location. They are looking to include sports performance training for adults, as well.
In addition to programs at the new wellness center, LMH is partnering with the Lawrence Parks and Recreation department to collaborate on wellness offerings and health screenings at the city’s other recreation centers. In announcing the partnership last May, LMH President and CEO Gene Meyer noted: “Combining the hospital’s health expertise with the city’s recreation facilities, the goal of this partnership is to achieve a vision of Lawrence as the healthiest community in America.”
— Janice Early is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Lawrence Memorial Hospital, which is a major sponsor of WellCommons.
