SEQUIM — Olympic Medical Center’s pilot program at the YMCA of Sequim, which opened more than a year ago, aims to expand its offerings in 2019.
Wellness Services in the YMCA of Sequim opened in September 2017 to help residents with balance, exercise and confidence.
“It’s a way to engage the community and be preventative,” Raymond Martinez, Wellness Services Program coordinator said.
“We want to be proactive rather than reactive. OMC is good at being reactive and taking care of people.
“Now, being here, Wellness Services is about helping people stay well. Let’s address things before they happen.”
New programs such as Smoking Cessation and Diabetes Prevention programs will be introduced in 2019 along with more staffing, leaders say.
“The hospital’s goal here is not money but to provide a service to the community,” said Leonard Anderson, manager of OMC’s Heart Center, who oversees Wellness Services.
He said OMC leaders continue to discuss options to expand services to the Port Angeles YMCA, too.
“The concept is to eventually grow this larger,” Anderson said.
Wellness Services’ first class offering, Tai Ji Quan, aims to help people reduce their risk of falling while improving balance, Martinez said. Twice a week, for 12 weeks, participants gather to learn and practice eight forms of Tai Ji Quan.
Helen Butler of Sequim is nearing the end of her second 12-week session.
“If it keeps me from falling,” Butler said, she will keep doing it.
Since 2011, Butler said she’s fallen six times, resulting in two broken hips.
Her physical therapist, Peggy Scheideler, teaches the class and says the technique helps people like Butler who live in senior apartments. Scheideler said a study by multiple agencies showed Tai Ji Quan helped reduce falls by 55 percent in community-dwelling older adults, and 67 percent in Parkinson’s disease.
“It’s really for anybody who needs help in improving their balance,” Martinez said. “That can happen to anybody based on what they’ve been dealt.”
Anderson said the push for the center came after the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center (SARC), shut down, and OMC expressed interest in supporting the YMCA, which took over the facility, by leasing space.
“This is a critical medical facility and it was closed … it hurt the community as a whole,” Anderson said. “That’s why OMC got involved … a community space wellness program is becoming more and more of our health care. We’re trying to prevent and keep people out of the hospital.”
Wellness Service’s space was renovated by OMC, Martinez said, and it is adapted to whatever programs are offered.
Some of the programs include Phase III Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Maintenance, and Transitional Gym Programs to help clinical and physical therapy patients transition to community-based exercise programs.
Anderson said whatever the ailment, in-hospital treatment programs may last only four to six weeks, depending upon insurance.
“This is a way for someone to continue their work in a relatively low-cost setting,” he said.
Some people receive referrals through their physicians, Martinez said, but people can simply call and ask about programs to see what may work for them.
Cost is all out of pocket and not covered by insurance. Programs range from $32 to $66 per month with varying amounts for other programs and assessments.
Participants are offered discounts to the YMCA for one-year memberships and access to its facilities while in the program, too.
Anderson said the goal is for people to transition from OMC to other independent exercise routines on their own.
“They may feel comfortable and join the Y, or any of the other facilities in town, but they’ve developed that comfort,”he said. “It’s very hard when you’re 70 years old, and you’ve had a heart attack and you’ve never worked out in a gym in your whole life to walk into a YMCA.”
“We want to translate this to life outside of the gym — shopping on their own, doing their own yard work,” Martinez said.
In programs, Martinez said programming caters to everyone’s individual needs with “an exercise routine that is efficient but also safe.”
“I enjoy helping this population and showing them they don’t have to be limited,” Martinez said. “They can be a community member again. They don’t have to be limited by their disease. I give them the tools and skills they need so they can do what they enjoy doing.”
Last year, 279 people visited Wellness Services for a total of 1,956 visits.
“Raymond Martinez and his OMC staff bring the highest level of clinical knowledge and professionalism into our YMCA,” said Kurt Turner, executive director of the YMCA of Sequim.
“OMC offers top-notch programs focusing on chronic disease management and prevention.”
For more information on programs, or to register, call 360-582-5050, or visit the YMCA of Sequim at 610 N. Fifth Ave.
