After years of interest from staff and physicians, Carle is excited to announce an on-site, employee Fitness Center will open February 22, 2018.
The facilities will be free for all Carle and Health Alliance employees and open by badge access, 24 hours a day, year-round. Charge UP Fitness Center is a unique offering for Carle and Health Alliance employees to enjoy a costeffective and efficient way to incorporate wellness into a demanding daily schedule.
In this informative segment we hear from Dr. Jay Jimenez, as he shares the exciting news about Charge UP Fitness Center and how it has many benefits for Carle and Health Alliance employees.
The Wellness committee invites all staff and physicians to attend an open house February 21 to preview the space. The Carle Fitness Center will officially open the next day.
Selected Podcast
Charge UP Fitness Center at Carle Hospital
Featuring:
Learn more about Juan Jimenez, MD
Juan Jimenez, MD
Dr. Jay Jimenez is the Physician Chair for the new Carle Fitness Center that will open in late February, 2018. He is a fitness expert and member of the Physician Wellness Committee.Learn more about Juan Jimenez, MD
Transcription:
Melanie Cole (Host): After years of interest from staff and physicians, Carle is excited to announce an onsite, employee fitness center that will open up February 22nd, 2018. Charge UP Fitness Center is a unique offering for Carle and Health Alliance employees to enjoy a cost-effective and efficient way to incorporate wellness into a demanding daily schedule. My guest today, is Dr. Juan Jimenez. He's a Physician Chair for the new Charge Up Carle Fitness Center, and he's a fitness expert and a member of the physician wellness committee. Welcome to the show, Dr. Jimenez. Tell us about the new Carle Fitness Center, and how did it come about?
Dr. Juan Jimenez (Guest): Well, this is a very exciting project for us. I’ve been on the physician wellness committee for over ten years now, and the idea of an onsite fitness center has been pitched a few different times. Our doctors routinely ask this of the committee, and over the years we have had several attempts at this trying to use spaces that already had some equipment available, such as cardiac rehab or our sports medicine rehab areas. It wasn’t really an ideal situation. The hours of access were limited. There was a fee associated with this, and it wasn’t felt to be convenient for most of our doctors or other staff.
This last year, the wellness committee decided that with all the emphasis being put on physician burnout and burnout mitigation that we should reintroduce this concept. Last summer, myself and one of my fellow committee members had a meeting with senior leadership at Carle, we reintroduced this idea, and much to our surprise, they decided to move forward with it. They thought the time was right, we had space for it, and the funds were available and everything just kind of fell into place.
Melanie: What are some of the benefits of having an onsite fitness center for employees and physicians alike?
Dr. Jimenez: Well, it boils down to convenience and being able to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into one’s work. As you know, physicians and healthcare workers, we put in long hours. Our hours are often irregular and having an onsite fitness facility where people can run over and do 30 minutes of cardio on a lunch hour or before or after a shift, will be beneficial in terms of starting to develop those healthy habits that we need to have – incorporating physical activity into our daily lives.
Melanie: Well, it’s so important. Do you see, and have you looked around the country at other fitness centers – and you mentioned burnout and physician burnout and odd hours – that by having it right there on site, that’s going to save people from having to go somewhere and bring all of their stuff with them, that it’s going to make it so convenient?
Dr. Jimenez: Yeah, there have been some hospitals that have succeeded with this concept – in fact, the hospital that I trained at many years ago, back in 2000 to 2002 – had an onsite fitness center and that was very well-utilized. That was one of the things that I kept bringing up is that if we build this, it’s going to be popular, people are going to use it, and we’ll probably end up having to expand this at some point. Aside from hospitals and healthcare institutions, a lot of companies offer this type of thing. One of the major employers in our area is a company called ADM over in Decatur. They’re an agricultural manufacturing company, and our former wellness director had worked for them previously, and they had an onsite fitness center. It really helps keep people healthy; it helps drive healthcare costs down. It’s really a good idea all around.
Melanie: Well, it certainly shows that Carle values the health and well-being of its physicians and employees, so what will it encompass? What equipment will be available?
Dr. Jimenez: So, we have fairly limited space right now, but we wanted to make sure that we had a nice combination of both cardio and strength training. We’re going to have some treadmills for people who want to walk or run on the treadmill. We’ll have stationary bicycles, a rowing machine. There will be a handful of weight machines like chest press, overhead press, leg extension, that kind of thing. One of the pieces of equipment that I’m very excited about is a functional trainer, which allows you to do a variety of different exercises on one piece of equipment. And then, we’ll have some dumbbells, kettlebells, and a chin-up bar, and that kind of stuff for weight training and bodyweight exercises.
Melanie: Who can employees turn to, Dr. Jimenez, if they don’t know how to use some of this equipment you’re describing?
Dr. Jimenez: One of the things that we have planned for the first several weeks that the fitness center is open is we’re going to tap into some of the expertise that we have in our sports medicine department with various athletic and fitness trainers to come over and help staff some open houses in the fitness center where – if somebody is unsure how to use a machine or what they need to do, they can come by and talk to the athletic trainer, maybe get some individualized instruction on the equipment. I also believe that there’s going to be some sort of instruction placards with the various equipment to help people use the devices if there is not somebody available to help them.
Melanie: How can employees gain access and utilize the facility?
Dr. Jimenez: One of the great things about this space is it’s going to be 24/7 access with the employee badge. In order to have the badge activated for access into the facility, the employees will have to go into our Lawson system and electronically sign a waiver to absolve the organization of any legal responsibility for injury and that kind of thing. Once that’s done, the employee will be able to get in and out of the facility with just the swipe of the badge.
Melanie: What are some key elements that you envision that this is going to do for employees, and do you see that it will be crowded, busy, that people are going to take advantage of this?
Dr. Jimenez: Well, initially, I didn’t think it was going to be crowded, but the more people – we had a big announcement that came out about this a couple of weeks ago in one of our organizational communications, and the number of people that have come up and said, “Oh, this is such a great idea. I can’t wait to use this,” it makes me wonder if it isn’t going to be really crowded. We’re just going to have to wait and see. What I will say is the leadership, when we pitched this idea, they’re like we’re going to start small and in a small space, but if this takes off and people are using it, they’re committed to expanding the facility to meet the needs of employees and physicians. I really – on a more, sort of higher level, I want this to set the tone for creating a healthy work environment. We have high-stress jobs. One of the best ways to mitigate burnout is through physical activity and having this available for our employees I think is going to be such a great benefit and really help alleviate some of that stress and burnout that people are experiencing.
Melanie: I couldn’t agree with you more. Where is it located?
Dr. Jimenez: It is located in the basement of what’s called our HVI tower. It’s a little bit difficult to find, but once you know where it is, it won’t be too hard to navigate to. The HVI tower is one of our newer buildings in the organization, so it’s a fairly new space, and it’s I think, somewhat centrally located as far as in the main campus. Now, we do have lots of outlying facilities and different branch clinics and whatnot; every employee is welcome to use this. Although, that may not be as conveniently located for somebody working offsite as in the main hospital, but we thought that this location would give the maximum benefit to the most employees.
Melanie: In summary, Dr. Jimenez, tell other physicians what you’d like them to know about the new Carle Fitness Center and about the open house coming in February.
Dr. Jimenez: The new fitness center will be opening February 22nd. It will have 24/7 badge access as long as you’ve gone in and done your waiver in Lawson. It will have a nice mixture of cardio equipment and strength training equipment, and we hope to have some trainers available during the first several weeks at open houses to help instruct people on the proper use and form so that there are no injuries or other untoward events.
Melanie: And tell us about your team. Why is Carle so great to work with?
Dr. Jimenez: I think this project exemplifies that. Here, we have a need within the organization – really a benefit, more of a want than a need, I suppose – and it’s not an insignificant cost, and the leadership was very supportive of us pursuing this. Not a lot of organizations would take an interest in their employees’ health and address physician burnout and provider burnout to the extent that Carle has. I’m really proud of our organization and of our senior leadership for taking this step and taking this leap of faith to provide this benefit to physicians and employees.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Dr. Jimenez, for being with us today. This is Expert Insights with the Carle Foundation. The wellness committee invites staff and physicians to attend an open house February 21st to preview the space located in the lower level of Carle Tower. The Carle Fitness Center will officially open the next day, on February 22nd. You can check out the Charge Wellness Platform to get more information about the Fitness Center or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with questions. For a listing of Carle providers and to view Carle sponsored educational activities, please visit CarleConnect.com, that’s CarleConnect.com. We hope the information gained will be applicable to your work and life. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much, for listening.
Melanie Cole (Host): After years of interest from staff and physicians, Carle is excited to announce an onsite, employee fitness center that will open up February 22nd, 2018. Charge UP Fitness Center is a unique offering for Carle and Health Alliance employees to enjoy a cost-effective and efficient way to incorporate wellness into a demanding daily schedule. My guest today, is Dr. Juan Jimenez. He's a Physician Chair for the new Charge Up Carle Fitness Center, and he's a fitness expert and a member of the physician wellness committee. Welcome to the show, Dr. Jimenez. Tell us about the new Carle Fitness Center, and how did it come about?
Dr. Juan Jimenez (Guest): Well, this is a very exciting project for us. I’ve been on the physician wellness committee for over ten years now, and the idea of an onsite fitness center has been pitched a few different times. Our doctors routinely ask this of the committee, and over the years we have had several attempts at this trying to use spaces that already had some equipment available, such as cardiac rehab or our sports medicine rehab areas. It wasn’t really an ideal situation. The hours of access were limited. There was a fee associated with this, and it wasn’t felt to be convenient for most of our doctors or other staff.
This last year, the wellness committee decided that with all the emphasis being put on physician burnout and burnout mitigation that we should reintroduce this concept. Last summer, myself and one of my fellow committee members had a meeting with senior leadership at Carle, we reintroduced this idea, and much to our surprise, they decided to move forward with it. They thought the time was right, we had space for it, and the funds were available and everything just kind of fell into place.
Melanie: What are some of the benefits of having an onsite fitness center for employees and physicians alike?
Dr. Jimenez: Well, it boils down to convenience and being able to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into one’s work. As you know, physicians and healthcare workers, we put in long hours. Our hours are often irregular and having an onsite fitness facility where people can run over and do 30 minutes of cardio on a lunch hour or before or after a shift, will be beneficial in terms of starting to develop those healthy habits that we need to have – incorporating physical activity into our daily lives.
Melanie: Well, it’s so important. Do you see, and have you looked around the country at other fitness centers – and you mentioned burnout and physician burnout and odd hours – that by having it right there on site, that’s going to save people from having to go somewhere and bring all of their stuff with them, that it’s going to make it so convenient?
Dr. Jimenez: Yeah, there have been some hospitals that have succeeded with this concept – in fact, the hospital that I trained at many years ago, back in 2000 to 2002 – had an onsite fitness center and that was very well-utilized. That was one of the things that I kept bringing up is that if we build this, it’s going to be popular, people are going to use it, and we’ll probably end up having to expand this at some point. Aside from hospitals and healthcare institutions, a lot of companies offer this type of thing. One of the major employers in our area is a company called ADM over in Decatur. They’re an agricultural manufacturing company, and our former wellness director had worked for them previously, and they had an onsite fitness center. It really helps keep people healthy; it helps drive healthcare costs down. It’s really a good idea all around.
Melanie: Well, it certainly shows that Carle values the health and well-being of its physicians and employees, so what will it encompass? What equipment will be available?
Dr. Jimenez: So, we have fairly limited space right now, but we wanted to make sure that we had a nice combination of both cardio and strength training. We’re going to have some treadmills for people who want to walk or run on the treadmill. We’ll have stationary bicycles, a rowing machine. There will be a handful of weight machines like chest press, overhead press, leg extension, that kind of thing. One of the pieces of equipment that I’m very excited about is a functional trainer, which allows you to do a variety of different exercises on one piece of equipment. And then, we’ll have some dumbbells, kettlebells, and a chin-up bar, and that kind of stuff for weight training and bodyweight exercises.
Melanie: Who can employees turn to, Dr. Jimenez, if they don’t know how to use some of this equipment you’re describing?
Dr. Jimenez: One of the things that we have planned for the first several weeks that the fitness center is open is we’re going to tap into some of the expertise that we have in our sports medicine department with various athletic and fitness trainers to come over and help staff some open houses in the fitness center where – if somebody is unsure how to use a machine or what they need to do, they can come by and talk to the athletic trainer, maybe get some individualized instruction on the equipment. I also believe that there’s going to be some sort of instruction placards with the various equipment to help people use the devices if there is not somebody available to help them.
Melanie: How can employees gain access and utilize the facility?
Dr. Jimenez: One of the great things about this space is it’s going to be 24/7 access with the employee badge. In order to have the badge activated for access into the facility, the employees will have to go into our Lawson system and electronically sign a waiver to absolve the organization of any legal responsibility for injury and that kind of thing. Once that’s done, the employee will be able to get in and out of the facility with just the swipe of the badge.
Melanie: What are some key elements that you envision that this is going to do for employees, and do you see that it will be crowded, busy, that people are going to take advantage of this?
Dr. Jimenez: Well, initially, I didn’t think it was going to be crowded, but the more people – we had a big announcement that came out about this a couple of weeks ago in one of our organizational communications, and the number of people that have come up and said, “Oh, this is such a great idea. I can’t wait to use this,” it makes me wonder if it isn’t going to be really crowded. We’re just going to have to wait and see. What I will say is the leadership, when we pitched this idea, they’re like we’re going to start small and in a small space, but if this takes off and people are using it, they’re committed to expanding the facility to meet the needs of employees and physicians. I really – on a more, sort of higher level, I want this to set the tone for creating a healthy work environment. We have high-stress jobs. One of the best ways to mitigate burnout is through physical activity and having this available for our employees I think is going to be such a great benefit and really help alleviate some of that stress and burnout that people are experiencing.
Melanie: I couldn’t agree with you more. Where is it located?
Dr. Jimenez: It is located in the basement of what’s called our HVI tower. It’s a little bit difficult to find, but once you know where it is, it won’t be too hard to navigate to. The HVI tower is one of our newer buildings in the organization, so it’s a fairly new space, and it’s I think, somewhat centrally located as far as in the main campus. Now, we do have lots of outlying facilities and different branch clinics and whatnot; every employee is welcome to use this. Although, that may not be as conveniently located for somebody working offsite as in the main hospital, but we thought that this location would give the maximum benefit to the most employees.
Melanie: In summary, Dr. Jimenez, tell other physicians what you’d like them to know about the new Carle Fitness Center and about the open house coming in February.
Dr. Jimenez: The new fitness center will be opening February 22nd. It will have 24/7 badge access as long as you’ve gone in and done your waiver in Lawson. It will have a nice mixture of cardio equipment and strength training equipment, and we hope to have some trainers available during the first several weeks at open houses to help instruct people on the proper use and form so that there are no injuries or other untoward events.
Melanie: And tell us about your team. Why is Carle so great to work with?
Dr. Jimenez: I think this project exemplifies that. Here, we have a need within the organization – really a benefit, more of a want than a need, I suppose – and it’s not an insignificant cost, and the leadership was very supportive of us pursuing this. Not a lot of organizations would take an interest in their employees’ health and address physician burnout and provider burnout to the extent that Carle has. I’m really proud of our organization and of our senior leadership for taking this step and taking this leap of faith to provide this benefit to physicians and employees.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Dr. Jimenez, for being with us today. This is Expert Insights with the Carle Foundation. The wellness committee invites staff and physicians to attend an open house February 21st to preview the space located in the lower level of Carle Tower. The Carle Fitness Center will officially open the next day, on February 22nd. You can check out the Charge Wellness Platform to get more information about the Fitness Center or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with questions. For a listing of Carle providers and to view Carle sponsored educational activities, please visit CarleConnect.com, that’s CarleConnect.com. We hope the information gained will be applicable to your work and life. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much, for listening.