WellWorks improves facility, announces changes to membership offerings

After nearly $200,000 invested in its Grover Center facilities in the past three years, WellWorks staff are now working to provide improved, unique wellness experiences for Athens County.

“We offer a variety of wellness experiences that you can’t find elsewhere in the region,” said Engagement and Marketing Coordinator Annie Laurie Cadmus. “Our memberships include diverse group fitness offerings, our massage therapy program is expanding, and we have one of the only registered dietitians in the region who accepts personal counseling appointments.”

WellWorks’ fitness memberships have experienced significant growth and increases in engagement in recent years.

“In the past year alone, WellWorks increased its average number of member visits by 10 percent,” said Jenn Bennett, director of WellWorks. “We love that our members are engaged, but that means that our equipment requires more maintenance or replacement and our facility needs more frequent upgrading. “

The WellWorks facility, located in Grover Center on Ohio University’s Athens campus, has planned numerous upgrades that will take place over the next five years, including:

• Replacement and repairs of cardio and strength equipment in the Fitness Center
• Replacement of lockers in the locker rooms
• Exciting and new group fitness offerings
• Rebranding
• Retail sales of commonly forgotten exercise apparel and accessories

In order to continue to provide quality membership support via facility upgrades and programming, WellWorks has announced an adjustment to its membership structure that will go into effect July 1, 2019.

Annual memberships will increase by $25, marking WellWorks’ first annual membership increase in approximately 10 years.  Additionally, both senior and family discounts will be retired. However, a new pricing option will be available for youth (age 13-18) memberships.

As always, WellWorks memberships will not include additional fees such as “annual fees” or “startup fees.” The price increases are a flat rate and will not include additional costs to members. Prices for other WellWorks experiences, including personal training, nutrition counseling, massage therapy and body assessments will remain the same.

A detailed explanation of the changes to WellWorks memberships is available at ohio.edu/wellworks.

“We have worked to ensure that the price increases are not drastic but, instead, reflect national trends in the fitness industry while responding to our facility’s unique needs,” explained Bennett.

“We know that members enjoy using the facility,” said Bennett. “We want them to be proud and excited to be a part of the WellWorks community, which is why we want to bring WellWorks into the 21^st Century … so we can continue to progress with national fitness center trends.”

“Just in the past two years, we have seen a 33 percent increase in the group fitness class offerings here at WellWorks,” said Josh Christen, wellness program coordinator at WellWorks. “That’s, in great part, thanks to our effort to remain current with trends in the field and our commitment to our active senior program. We’ll continue to refine and add regular and active senior classes in the coming year.”

Memberships at WellWorks currently include (and will continue to include):

• Access to the Fitness Center
• Unlimited group fitness classes
• Discounts on specialty classes such as Women on Weights and The Great Yoga Wall
• Free health and wellness coaching
• Reasonably priced personal training
• Parking (for those who do not qualify for a University parking pass)
• Use of lockers, showers and changing rooms
• Support from wellness specialists
• Free blood pressure screening upon request
• Free music/headphone rental
• Free WiFi (through Ohio University)
• No start up or annual fees
• Ohio University employee (and spouse/partner) benefits such as:
  • 100 Day Challenge
  • Risk Reduction

“Compared to other fitness memberships in Athens County, WellWorks prices will remain the lowest in the region for its offerings,” said Steve Clusman, fitness center supervisor. “Our rates are in line with other facilities, but we have the added benefit of unlimited group fitness classes and health and wellness coaching. Plus, we need to establish new pricing to adjust to standard operational costs such as equipment replacements, software subscriptions, facility upgrades and increased hourly wages for our staff.”

“Our best price option will remain our annual membership,” explained Cyndi Parsons, WellWorks administrative specialist. “We encourage members to utilize direct debit and, if you do that, you’re paying $24 for the first month and then just $16 for each consecutive month.” Parsons explained that the price break-down of a larger first month payment is simply for ease of remembering payment amounts and that, accumulative, the monthly fees for the annual membership is the same if you wish to pay for the full membership in advance.

Overview of Membership Adjustments:

*Those who choose to enroll in direct debit can also choose to participate in our new Evergreen payment option. This will eliminate the need to renew one’s membership annually and offer an $8 reduction in total membership price annually after the first year (rather than being charged the $24 at the start of each year, the member will maintain a flat rate of $16 per month). This payment option does involve a $25 cancellation fee should the member choose to cancel their membership.

**Those individuals who previously qualified for a Senior Membership are encouraged to call Tivity Health® or go online to silversneakers.com to determine if they would qualify for a SilverSneakers™ membership, instead.

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Media Contacts: CHSP Associate Director of Communications Dan Pittman at pittmand@ohio.edu or 740.566.0212 or WellWorks Engagement and Marketing Coordinator Annie Laurie Cadmus at cadmus@ohio.edu or 740.593.9458

About WellWorks

www.ohio.edu/wellworks

WellWorks, an initiative of OHIO’s College of Health Sciences and Professions, offers a wide array of wellness services to Ohio University employees as well as the surrounding area. From massage to nutrition to personal training, we have your wellness needs covered. To request accommodations to fully participate in any of our programs, please contact Annie Laurie Cadmus at cadmus@ohio.edu, 740.593.9458

About the College of Health Sciences and Professions
Ohio University's College of Health Sciences and Professions is a place where innovative education and research happens every day. A growing portfolio of degree and certificate programs are housed in our five academic units: the School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness; the School of Nursing; the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences; the Department of Social and Public Health; and the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Studies. All five bring together faculty and students across multiple disciplines to explore the best approaches to addressing health and wellness in various settings. Each year, over 1,600 students graduate from our programs prepared as passionate professionals ready to make a difference in the lives of the people they serve. Visit https://www.ohio.edu/chsp for more.