The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine will take the next step on its path to bring better health and wellness to Erie. LECOM will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 54th & Peach Streets. Following the groundbreaking, contractors will begin construction on the building that is scheduled for opening in September 2008. Over the past four months, workers have removed buildings on the property and prepared the site for construction of the three-story LECOM Medically Integrated Health and Wellness Center. The College is investing $31 million in a facility that brings medical care together with fitness by teaming LECOM with Millcreek Community Hospital, Medical Associates of Erie, and Millcreek Geriatric Education and Care Center to make a medical fitness difference in local health care. According to LECOM Provost, Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Silvia M. Ferretti, D.O., LECOM and Millcreek Community Hospital have launched a project that converges health care services and fitness programs into one destination. “The LECOM Health and Wellness Center will be a center where the Erie community can work toward disease prevention as well as seek treatment,” Dr. Ferretti said. “The union of a comprehensive fitness center and medical offices into one center reflects osteopathic medicine’s commitment to preventive, total-person health care.” The LECOM Health and Wellness Center provides choices for exercise, health education and clinical care. The center will become part of the continuum of health care that begins with the training of physicians and pharmacists at LECOM and is maintained through medical services at Millcreek Community Hospital, Millcreek Geriatric Education and Care Center and the physician offices of Medical Associates of Erie. The wellness center not only will serve the fitness needs of LECOM students and patients and employees of Millcreek Health System, but also provide a facility that will encourage Erie County citizens to pursue a better quality of life. The nationally acclaimed healthcare architectural and design firm of Marshall Erdman and Associates has developed plans that integrate the amenities of the fitness center with the clinical needs of patients in a three-story building. The architects have created a healthy lifestyle atmosphere that welcomes visitors and draws them into the fitness center. Marshall Erdman will continue on the project as general contractor. The spa-quality fitness center will occupy the first two floors of the three-story building with three swimming pools, aerobic and yoga fitness rooms, basketball and racquetball courts, a 3-lane indoor running track and a physical therapy facility. The third-floor will house offices for Medical Associates of Erie offering Internal Medicine, Integrative Medicine, Geriatrics, Orthopedic Surgery and OB-GYN care. When the Center opens, Power Wellness Management, a national health and wellness center management team, will operate the LECOM facility. Power Wellness has participated in the design of the fitness center and will coordinate the acquisition of fitness equipment. LECOM selected Power Wellness based on the company’s experience and its commitment to improving the quality of life in the community.

I went out to take a brisk walk to try to get some fresh air, solitude and exercise while my mom put lotion on my dad's back to ease his itching -- the hospital's washing service uses something that leaves a residue on the sheets and has made dad break out. And the phone rang three times. I had to give updates to various friends and family. But it needed doing at some point. The update is that he may be released Monday or Tuesday. Yeah, incredible. But he is not going to be very mobile and will need at least a week of rehab to be able to make the flight back to Roanoke. Looks like I will be here most of the week, until we have arrangements made to get he and mom aboard a flight and safety equipment -- handrails in the tub and bathroom, etc. -- installed when he gets there. Then I have to get them some care once home -- dad had done most of the work as mom has some memory loss issues. So meals, meds, transport and all that needs to be assigned. There will be family there to help with that and to help manage the RNs or whoever comes in for checkups and physical therapy. So I might get back home by Valentine's Day ... wonder if my Valentine will remember me by then? ;) I kid. Happy Super Sunday, folks and and HUGE thank you from me and my family to all of you!