HealthPoint Plaza to hold 'soft opening' Tuesday

The electronic signs of HealthPoint Plaza have been flashing messages of wellness and fitness to motorists along Independence and Kingshighway for weeks. But now Southeast Missouri Hospital is ready to start practicing what the signs preach, as it opens the doors to the fitness center to the public.

On Tuesday, HealthPoint Plaza will hold a 12:15 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by the beginning of daily operations of HealthPoint Fitness at 2 p.m.

Although the fitness facilities will be open to the 1,100-plus members who've already signed up, the ceremony actually initiates the first phase of a three-phase plan leading up to the integrated fitness center's complete grand opening sometime in early November.

Frankie Erlacher, director of Southeast's outpatient rehabilitation, said that Tuesday's event will be more of a "soft opening," meaning that members can begin using the facilities, but they can do so free of charge for the first two weeks.

Erlacher said the reason for the two-week grace period is that in addition to the 1,100 members currently signed up, the hospital expects many more to come. She said it will take time to process each member's personal doctor-directed program and get them integrated with FitLinxx, an electronic monitoring system that networks that program and the patient's progress throughout the facility.

But while the patrons' programs are being taken care of, they can take full advantage of the facilities. All equipment will be functional, except the whirlpools, which will be ready by Oct. 1, and the warm water pool, which is expected to be finished by Nov. 1.

Once the fitness portion of the facility is up and running, phase two will be initiated in mid-October. At that time, operations director Bill Logan said he expects the hospital's Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialists Paul and Annamaria Guidos and Occupational Medicine specialist Tom Marsh will move into their offices in the plaza. Phase three involves the transplant of Southeast's Outpatient Rehabilitation department, which will also move into the plaza completing the circuit of the center's integrated operations.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137