Letter to the Editor: Crain’s Detroit Business Article about Manchester Wellness Center Gets Lots of the Story Right and Some of the Story Wrong

June 26, 2015

Did you see the piece about CWF’s Wellness Centers in Crain’s Detroit Business? It’s really exciting for us to have others paying attention to the work we’re doing. It spreads our message that prevention is key. And, even if you have health problems, you can improve your level of function so you feel better and have an improved quality of life.

There were some inaccuracies in the Crain’s article and for the broader Crain’s audience the inaccuracies in the piece do not tarnish the message. But for our communities I’d like to set the record straight on a few things that are important locally.

1. St. Joseph didn’t open the Chelsea Wellness Center (CWC) in 2001. Chelsea Community Hospital had the vision and made it a reality.
2. When CWF took over CWC in 2009 there were 3,500 members, not 6,500.
3. Our goal (mission) is not to breakeven but to increase health & wellness. It’s just a positive consequence that more members will help us move to a breakeven point. We look forward to that day so additional funds can be made available for other wellness projects – particularly 5H.
4. Individual rates are not $72 per year. They are $69 in Dexter & $68 in Chelsea. It’s actually per month rather than per year. And if you belong to one of the two larger centers you belong to all four centers. Of course, additional family members join at a reduced rate and there are discounts & special programs for seniors, college students and others.
5. The more people we get into our wellness centers, the more health and wellness we provide.
6. I don’t actually know how many school employees take advantage of the school district discounts. I hope it is 650!
7. To participate in Next Steps you can have a referral from any health care provider – not just the University of Michigan Family Practice. Health care providers from St. Joseph Mercy Hospital frequently refer patients to our programs, too.
8. CWC and DWC are both certified through the Medical Fitness Association, not Medical Fitness Organization. It is not a new organization. It was founded in 1991.

As you can see, none of these corrections will make a difference in the overall message that prevention and wellness are an important part of health. But we want to set the record straight for those in our service area. And express our gratitude to Crain’s for their interest in health & wellness and the Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation.

Matt Pegouskie
Community Investment Manager
Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation

Editor’s Note: Crain’s Detroit Business did make a few corrections to the electronic version linked to above so all the clarifications above aren’t necessary when reading this on-line version. We’d like to publish your letter to the editor too. Click HERE for our letter to the editor policy.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.