Dear Member
On behalf of the entire staff, I would like to welcome you to the Gainesville Health and Fitness Centers. Our goal is to make your fitness experience a very positive one and to help you achieve all of your goals. I want to personally thank you for giving us this opportunity.
To better acquaint you with who we are and what our mission is, I’d like to give you a little background about our centers. GHFC started as a small facility located above a bank on Archer Road in the mid 1970’s. Our original space was about the size of our lobby in the Coed Center today. In 1978, we moved to the Creekside Mall and expanded to 11,000 square feet.
In 1984, after realizing many women wanted a private environment, we built a center exclusively for women in Thornebrook Village. In 1986, our Coed facility moved to Westgate Regency and expanded to 31,000 square feet. In 1988, after collaborating with the University College of Medicine to research ways to help people with low back pain, we opened our physical therapy center known today as ReQuest Physical Therapy. In 1996 we moved our Coed Center to the current Newberry Road location. Today, we have more than 100,000 square feet of facilities and about 400 employees. As you can see, we are constantly expanding and improving to make your membership more valuable each year.
But it’s not the size of our facilities that separates us. Hopefully, you’ll find the caring attitude of our staff to be the real reason you chose us. Employees go through a rigorous hiring and training process. Though we’re not perfect, our goal is none-the-less perfection. I’ve been very fortunate to have a staff that has been with me for many years, many over 20 years. But the most important thing to me is that we’re always looking for ways to improve. We welcome your ideas. I’m available as well as our entire leadership team. You can tell us in person, call us, email us, write us, or use the suggestion boxes. You can tell us the good, the bad, and the ugly – I promise we will listen.
Our mission is to make Gainesville the healthiest community in America, one person at a time and one business at a time. Our core purpose is to improve the quality of people’s lives by making physical fitness a permanent component of their lives. And our vision is to become one of the best businesses for the world.
Once again, I want to thank you for choosing Gainesville Health and Fitness Centers. My hope is that your time with us proves to be a life-changing one.
Warmest regards,
Owner
Gainesville is the healthiest community in America, five years running
Keep reading to see how the Wellness Councils |
of America say a Gainesville gym helped lead the way.
Gainesville Goes Gold!
POSTED: MAY 03, 2003
original article at welcoa.org
The city of Gainesville, FL was awarded the first and only Gold Well City, USA Award from the Wellness Councils of America in April 2003. With close to 60% of the working population participating in wellness programs at the worksite, Gainesville has set a standard for other communities to follow to help address obesity and other lifestyle related issues affecting the United States today.
The Warm Up
The idea started in early 2000 when a local health club, Gainesville Health & Fitness Center (GHFC), needed a way to measure their mission of "Making Gainesville the Healthiest Community in America." After hearing about the Well City effort in Jacksonville, GHFC teamed up with Shands HealthCare and the Chamber of Commerce in January 2000 to help encourage as many businesses as possible to join the effort.
Support for project came straight from the top. After being introduced to the Well City idea by the 14-women Gainesville Well City Steering Committee, then Mayor of Gainesville, the honorable Paula Delany, emceed a CEO breakfast to roll out the project to the community's top business leaders. The city and county also issued proclamations of Gainesville's desire to "Go for the Gold."
 |
 |
|
The Award-Winning StatisticsWorksite wellness reachednearly 60 percent of Gainesville's employees. |
||
 |
 |
| As the cost of healthcare continued to rise through out the end of the nineties and into the millennia, many companies were interested in learning to ways to cut costs and have a healthier, more productive workforce. Worksite wellness' potential benefits intrigued Gainesville's business leaders and many of Gainesville's largest employers began developing or improving on current wellness programs. |
Team Players
Twenty-one businesses in the Gainesville community were a part of the project. These organizations collectively represent approximately 55,000 employees or close to 60% of Gainesville working population. Some of the leading organizations involved in the project included Shands HealthCare, the University of Florida, Alachua County Government, City of Gainesville and North Florida Regional Medical Center.
City of Gainesville government employees also won a designation of a platinum Well Workplace, one of only four such awards in the country. Kathryn Parker, nutrition consultant for the city of Gainesville, said she thinks the city won the platinum award because their employees are healthier than others. Their health insurance premiums are some of the lowest in the nation and that's because their employees don't get sick as much, Parker said.
"We spend a lot of time going into the work force, and we make it very convenient to be healthy," Parker said. "It has to be convenient."
"From an employer's point of view, this is good employee relations too. Wellness programs, like the ones now being offered at participating 'well workplaces' demonstrate a real management commitment to the well being of employees. I am really proud of the accomplishment of both employers and employees in this community, not only to achieve this unique recognition but to do something meaningful to promote good health.," says Marilyn Tubb, Well City Steering Committee Co-chair and Vice President for Community Affairs at Shands HealthCare.
The Home Stretch
Realizing the dream of becoming a Gold Well City in a little over three years was an amazing accomplishment for any city. "The Gainesville community came together and worked hard to achieve this ranking in such a short period of time." Said Debbie Lee, GHFC Marketing Director and Well City Steering Committee Co-chair.
"This is really an incredible achievement," said Kay Gulick, executive director of the Wellness Council of Florida, and key player in bringing Gainesville to Gold Well City Status. "To have 50 percent or more of the population of your community being exposed to comprehensive wellness programs has not been heard of before. It's something that you can be really proud of, and also you are going to see some real interesting statistics as far as improvement in health of the working population."
Looking Ahead
Gainesville's plans for the future include the expansion of the project from the business community to the community at large, and especially with children. America's obesity epidemic is starting to affect America's youth and the Gainesville Steering Committee hopes to develop healthy habits in children at a young age that will last a lifetime.
To Learn More About This Project
The Gainesville Gold Well City Project was orchestrated by the Wellness Council of Florida, a WELCOA locally affiliated wellness Council. To learn more, contact the Welness Council of Florida by clicking here.
Becoming a Well City
The Well City USA initiative is by invitation only. If you are interested in learning more about the invitation and application process, you may write to WELCOA at wellworkplace@welcoa.org to request additional information.
Well City USA Award Stat Sheet
1. City/Project: Gainesville Well City2. Month & Year Designated: April 2003
3. Population:
Current: 193.379
Workforce: 92,400
4. Top 5 Industries within Community
1. Services
2. Education
3. Healthcare
4. Government
5. Retail
5. Number of Well Workplaces Participating
Platinum: 1
Gold: 1
Silver: 3
Bronze: 16
6. Number of Employees within Well City Project: 55,000
