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COV ER FE AT UR E E VEN BEFORE THE Foundation for Healthy Communities of the Ohio Hospital Association recognized Thomas L. "Tim" Stover, MD, MBA, as the 2013 Wellness Warrior, those familiar with him had already branded him as such. Wellness and disease preven- tion have long been Dr. Stover's passions, prompting him to leave his career as an OB/GYN and expand his reach — and that of Akron General Health System, which he now leads as president and CEO. "The impetus for most of the things that I've done, and that Akron General has done for 100 years now, were driven by the needs of the patient," says Dr. Stover. "Service for all" was the hospital's core mission when it was founded as People's Hospital back in 1914. Like most hospitals of that time, the focus was on taking care of sick people in the hospital, or "sick care." "Today, and really for the past two decades, it's about keeping people healthy and out of the hospital," Dr. Stover explains. "It's about focusing on wellness, disease prevention and outpatient care." Leading the Way in Health and Wellness It all began in 1993, when Dr. Stover approached Akron General administrators with the idea of building a health and wellness center in the Montrose area of Akron. Three years later, when Akron General's Health & Wellness Center opened, it was a first — not only for Northeast Ohio, but also for the nation as a whole. The Center included a whole host of services such as primary care, radiol- ogy, outpatient surgery, physical therapy and sports medicine. It also included a 60,000-square-foot medical fitness By Robert Janek 'Wellness Warrior' Tim Stover, MD, MBA, President & CEO, Akron General: Thomas L. "Tim" Stover, MD, MBA, President & CEO, (right) and Douglas Ribley, Vice President of Wellness Services, Akron General Health System, stand in one of Akron General's three Health & Wellness Center LifeStyles facilities. For the past 16 years, LifeStyles has been named the No. 1 hospital-owned medical fitness facility in the country by Club Industry magazine. PHOTO © SMITHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY, NORTH CANTON 8 | Cleveland/Akron/Canton MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M ■ M A R C H /A P R I L 2 0 1 4