CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – The Medical University of South Carolina will open a new wellness center Tuesday afternoon that looks like an ordinary gym but is designed for people facing neurological conditions.
The Neurological Exercise Training and Wellness Center, located at 1014 St. Andrews Blvd., contains typical gym equipment like dumbbells, weighted plates and exercise equipment. But for patients who have suffered strokes or spinal cord injuries or who have conditions like dementia or Parkinson’s Disease, it is a facility they can use as a stepping stone after their release from treatments.
Wellness center officials say the gym is an important avenue of recovery that helps with physical impairments. The goal is to get people more independent by adding regular exercise to their lives and helping them return to things they used to enjoy before diagnosis.
MUSC professor and researcher Chris Gregory says people facing these conditions often lack exercise and movement during treatment. Gregory says there are few comfortable and safe options for people facing these conditions.
“This is an option for anybody who has had one of those diagnoses may still want to improve their function,” Gregory says.
Gregory says staff members are trained in physical therapy and says exercise is a powerful tool. Staff will help with training adjustments and exercise plans. The center is open for anyone facing neurological conditions along with family members and caregivers.
“Just having a venue where someone can come when they’re comfortable to get up, get out of the house, get integrated into the community again, be out and about and do things, especially with their spouse,” Gregory says. “Regular exercise is important for all of us but especially important for some of these folks that have one of these diagnoses.”
Officials say anyone facing neurological conditions can use this gym for free. They say financial reasons should not be a limiting factor for anybody. The facility does not require memberships thanks to donors and research funding.
The grand opening event will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a ribbon cutting to take place at 5:40 p.m.
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MUSC to hold ribbon cutting for new specialized wellness center
