Hospital is Changing Programs Focus

By JANETTE RODRIGUES

BY JANETTE RODRIGUES THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

CHESAPEAKE The Chesapeake General Hospital Authority is narrowing the focus and future membership of its Lifestyle Center on Battlefield Boulevard to focus solely on senior citizens and the sick, officials said Tuesday.

New memberships to the 3,100-member rehabilitation and fitness center wont be offered to anyone younger than 62 unless they are rehabilitation patients.

We are doing this because Chesapeake as a whole is growing a little bit, but the growth is in the older population, our senior population, said Chris Mosley, hospital president and chief executive officer .

The hospital is seeing more patients in the 45 -to-64 and 65 – and-older age groups. The majority of its wellness center membership at both facilities are senior citizens and adults.

Starting today, the authority will limit new membership to the Battlefield center to those 62 and older and rehabilitation patients. This facility fills a niche not being met by other fitness centers, officials said.

Existing fitness center members of all ages can still work out at the Battlefield and Western Branch facilities.

The fate of the Western Branch center on Taylor Road is uncertain, and hospital officials said only that they are considering their options.

For the record, I want to reiterate the fact that we are not closing the fitness center here, said Robert Oman, a longtime authority board member, of the Battlefield location.

More than a hundred people attended the standing-room-only meeting on the hospitals main campus on Battlefield.

While most center members in attendance seemed happy with the decision to focus on them and their needs, some younger members were displeased. .

I was a little upset when I left there, said Diane Shelor, 44, a center member opposed to the changes. The older people let me down. I think within the year there will not be a health or fitness center there for me or anyone.

Rumors have run rampant at the authoritys wellness centers in the Battlefield Boulevard area of Greenbrier and Western Branch. Members and patients have been worried that the hospital was poised to close both facilities as a cost-cutting measure.

At an advertised public meeting of the Chesapeake Hospital Authority with the City Council on Tuesday, the two bodies were to discuss the hospitals strategic plan. However, the session was closed to the public when a Pilot reporter entered the room.

Hospital officials said the centers werent losing money. The question is whether the centers should play a role in the hospitals future.

Last year, the authority asked Mosley, the independent, nonprofit hospitals new top administrator, to come up with a five-year strategic plan.

He hired a consultant, who advised the hospital to shed the centers, something members thought it was on the verge of doing this week after they received a cryptic letter from the hospital inviting them to a meeting to address any questions you might have concerning the future of the Lifestyle Center.

Hospital officials point out that 2003 and 2004 were not good years financially, b ut the hospital saw some financial turnarounds in 2005 that helped it change its stance on the Battlefield center from closure to restructure.

We think we are meeting a community need that is not being met, Mosley said after the meeting. We see a bright future for our organization. We are in the process of making plans to make that future a reality.

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Reach Janette Rodrigues at (757) 222-5208 or janette.rodrigues@ pilotonline.com.