What is the counterpart to being sick? Being well! It has always made sense to take care of your health and seek treatment for small problems before they become big ones. And now with the implementation of national healthcare reform, the paradigm shift is to proactively manage illness and disease by encouraging people to access healthcare earlier. Through primary care, emerging and chronic health conditions can be addressed in a coordinated, comprehensive, and measured approach that engages the most effective options by opting for the least invasive treatment when possible. Usually, it is a patient’s own primary care physician or specialist that has proposed a conservative plan of action for addressing some of the more complex and often interrelated symptoms of diseases such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, or obesity. Even post-surgical patients will have a long list of recovery to-dos from their doctor in order to maximize the benefits of their surgery. Here in Idaho Falls, one answer for the growing desire of patients and physicians to have a web of support for pre- and postsurgical therapy is the new Wellness Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. The Wellness Center is both a place (in the Medical Office Building at EIRMC) and a collection of interconnected programs available to counsel and treat patients in a variety of wellness disciplines. Programs include Diabetes Education, Spine Care, New U Weight Loss, Nutrition Counseling, Exercise Physiology, Congestive Heart Failure, Smoking Cessation, Joint Camp (pre and post-op care) and Life Balance Counseling and psychological services. The center even has its own outpatient lab so you don’t have to make a separate trip inside the hospital. Many of these programs have already existed in one form or another in the hospital, but now they are gathered together in one place, providing options that enable conservative, wellness-based approaches to tackle tough diseases. The focus is whole body, whole person. Nutrition and exercise are related to weight loss, weight loss can be related to spine care or diabetes, diabetes has implications for heart disease and so on. Because of this, often a combination of programs is what gets optimal results. But each program also stands alone for patients who need or want to focus on a single area, or whose physicians order specific treatment or coaching. Bringing these programs together under one roof is what enables a truly customizable wellness experience for each individual. Don’t have a physician of your own? The Wellness Center has a nurse practitioner on site to help you, and to make the appropriate referrals if required by your insurance. And now, no one has to experience roadblocks to better health because these programs are available to anyone on a selfreferral, self-pay basis as well. Wellness is about convenience. It’s about accessibility. It’s about putting you in control of your health and making your quality of life the best it can be. For more information, contact EIRMC’s Wellness Center staff at 535-4200. idahofallsmagazine