As more retirees look to move into retirement communities, many facilities are changing their views of providing athletic and rehabilitation directly on site, some are partnering with local fitness and health centers to provide a more complete offering through larger varieties of equipment and sources of wellness services and classes such as spinning and yoga. Many prospective senior living residents are choosing to either keep their existing memberships and relationships as many senior communities have facilities that are inadequate and compared to “hotel” fitness rooms.
For example, Alabama senior community Somerby Senior Living has formed a joint venture with neighboring St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Health System to receive access to the fitness center through complimentary memberships for its residents. The residents can get the physical therapy they need and have access to clean and well maintained fitness equipment as well as a variety of spa-like services.
“Usually active retirement communities have small fitness centers with a few pieces of equipment for residents to use,” said Michael Mays, president and COO of Somerby Senior Living. “While we could have done that, we wanted our members to have a completely different experience by being on the same campus as one of the most progressive health and wellness centers in the country
“While we provide services for people of all ages, it is particularly important to have a place where older adults can come for a variety of reasons — be it fitness, physical therapy or just attending one of our monthly health-related seminars,” said Stephanie Holderby, executive director of St. Vincent’s One Nineteen. “With the Somerby community on the same campus, it provides residents with easy access to our expansive and growing medical complex.
As fitness centers and clubs struggle and retirement communities look at ways to reduce their costs (both upfront and maintenance), these types of joint ventures will become more prevalent in both rural and urban settings.
