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SPECIAL FEATURE So, too, is the number of classes and programs: 70+ land and water aerobic classes and many other fitness and wellness programs, all offered by a qualified degreed staff, for members of every age and fitness level. And that, according to Ribley, is what makes LifeStyles unique — the people and the programs. "Akron General Lifestyles is not a Doug Ribley pauses at the front desk of LifeStyles, the award-winning medical fitness facility at Akron General's Health & Wellness Center. For 14 straight years, LifeStyles has been named Club Industry magazine's #1 hospital-owned fitness facility in the country. Manna, who also founded the business law firm of Brennan, Manna and Diamond, LLC, Signet currently has in progress more than $3.5 billion in real estate development, finance, and con- struction throughout the country. "This is not a developer model," says Manna, who serves as Signet's chair- man and lead strategist. "This is a healthcare model that's been tried and proven successful by a healthcare sys- tem. And I think that's what's so exciting about this." "It's a model of wellness and outpa- tient services along with physician alignment. That's what makes it unique," adds Mark Corr, Signet's chief operating officer. Douglas Ribley, vice president of Wellness Services at Akron General agrees. Ribley was recruited by Akron General in 1995 to lead the development and administrative oversight of its first Health & Wellness Center. "This is really core to what Akron General believes ... that in addition to taking care of people in the hospital when they're sick, ill and injured, we need to be in the business of trying to keep people well and out of hospital beds," Ribley says. "That's the future of health care and we believe in it so strongly, it's part of our strategic plan." Unique Vision, Unique Concepts The idea for Akron General's Health & Wellness Centers was sparked 20 years ago by what Dr. Stover calls a "very entrepreneurial" group of deci- sion-makers at Akron General who determined that healthcare in the US was moving from the traditional model, which was focused on sick care and hospitalization, to one focused on wellness, preventive medicine and outpatient care. "They saw the vision and had the fore site and the entrepreneurial spirit to build the first facility in Montrose. Ten years later, a second facility was built in Stow. And now we have a third facility nearing completion in Green which will open in a few months," says Dr. Stover. "And throughout this whole time, we've been pushing the concept of wellness and prevention in our community." LifeStyles was a big part of the 'push'. Boasting more than 200 pieces of cardiovascular and weight-lif ting equipment, an indoor lap pool and warm water pool, steam room, sauna, whirlpool, gymnasium, indoor and outdoor track, youth fitness area, exercise studios and indoor rock climb- ing wall, the facility is quite impressive. 34 | Cleveland-Akron-Canton MD NEWS MDNEWS.COM JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012 commercial health club. It is not a rec center. It is not a YMCA. It is a depart- ment of Akron General with a medical director, and just like any other depart- ment, it is considered a part of the hospital," he explains. Ribley uses this analogy: Oncology is a department; its medicine is che- motherapy and radiation. LifeStyles is a department; its "medicine" is physi- cal activity and health education. There's also integration of other depa r tment s , such a s Cl inica l Rehabilitation, into LifeStyles' envi- ronment. So on the floor at any given time there are physical therapists, exercise physiologists, athletic train- ers, sports performance trainers and other highly credentialed staff to ade- quately addres s hea l th-related questions and concerns. "Our health and wellness model is unique and our vision is right on tar- get," emphasizes Dr. Stover. "Given federal healthcare reform measures and shrinking reimbursements from public and private payors, healthcare administrators cannot continue to focus on the sick care inpatient model to sustain their hospitals. The future of healthcare is wellness, prevention and outpatient care. It's about helping communities become healthier." And that's what Integrated Wellness Partners plans to do ... across the country. A National Plan Through their new joint venture, Akron General and Signet will guide PHOTOS © JOE SMITHBERGER, SMITHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY, NORTH CANTON