CLEARLAKE >> “What I do have is a vision and I’d like to share it with you,” Development Officer Rebecca Southwick from Adventist Health said to the Clearlake City Council when bringing her idea of creating a Wellness Center in the city.
Southwick went to the council to receive their approval to look into using the Senior Community Center as a place to host the Wellness Center.
Adventist Health has outgrown the facility for their Live Well Program and staff members are looking to expand while also incorporating older and younger crowds. Southwick added that the clinic is one of the busiest in the country.
Adventist Health is expected to see 150,000 patients this year and their dental section sees 2,000 patients every month.
“All of these pieces came together and I thought, wait a second, what if we put Live Well, with a pool, how would that look?” Southwick said.
After putting together her idea and presenting it to her officials at Adventist Health, she contacted the YMCA in Sonoma County, which was looking to expand their footprint to Lake County.
The proposed Wellness Center’s final plan would depend partially on public interest. The center could include a workout facility, an indoor pool, a kitchen to host healthy eating programs, a fitness studio, the senior center program and offices for the Live Well Program.
“It’s no secret that Adventist Health Clearlake has very much invested in this community’s health and wellness,” Southwick said. “I believe that having something like this in our community would actually draw the entire County of Lake together.”
Since the council has shown interest, the next steps would be the feasibility process between Adventist Health and the Sonoma YMCA. This will begin in the near future and will incorporate an over the phone survey on what the community would like to see for this facility.
When assessing to see if this would be a place where Adventist Health would like to expand, Southwick said they would be paying for feasibility studies for the center while also looking at other potential locations so they are not limited to just the one center.
Since the Clearlake Community Senior Center has essentials that would be needed for a Wellness Center, it makes it an ideal place for it to be transformed and expanded upon.
Clearlake Council member Phil Harris said he is giddy with excitement over this idea and the fact that someone is interested in bringing something like this to light.
“This is an exciting time for Lake County and an even more exciting time for the City of Clearlake,” Harris said. “I think it would be a huge impact on our youth to just have a facility.
