I am not sure if it’s just me, but this time of the year usually puts me in an introspective and reflective kind of mood. Maybe it's because we now have an official personal training program up and running, but I seem to be very reflective on how far the Employee Fitness Center here on the Community Regional Medical Center campus has come in the three short years we've had our doors open.  Can you believe we've been open for three years now?  Time has really flown by!

A Vision is Born
I can still recall my first meeting with our then COO, now CEO, Mr. Craig Wagoner, and talking about the vision that would soon manifest.  I can still remember being escorted by our CEO and Dru Walker across the street from the hospital to actually have “eyes on” the space for the first time that would, by year’s end, become the Employee Fitness Center.  I can remember looking at that big beautiful blank canvass and thinking to myself how lucky am I to get the chance to help create something out of this pristine untouched room. I can also visualize the walk to my car with blueprints under my arm, feeling giddy like a schoolgirl, and thinking I couldn’t wait to get home and start on this project. During the drive home, my excitement slowly started to turn into a slight panic as I thought about the huge responsibility I had just accepted. By the time I had gotten home, my inner monologue had gone into coach mode, and I can remember sitting down at the dining room table with the blueprints spread out, the laptop fired up, and the old school drafting board complete with T-square and architect’s scale ready to go as I took a deep, cleansing breath and the voice in my head quietly whispered, “Calm down and cowboy up, you got this.”



Construction
I can recollect coming downtown a few times during the summer and fall of 2013 for meetings and the eagerness I felt as I got to swing by and check the progress of the construction. I can recall how much my anticipation level built up a little more with each trip.



Moving In!
I can still call to mind the amped up feeling of “move-in” week; seeing crates and shrink-wrapped pallets of commercial-grade gym equipment stored across the hall in what is now the ambulatory infusion lab. The anticipation of seeing everything come together, matching the carefully and painstakingly drafted vision in my head was an incredible rush. I can remember the day the truck arrived to deliver and install the bulk of the machines in the gym. I can still see it in my head, like it was yesterday, as they unloaded the truck in the painted island in the middle of Kashian Lane to stage the new equipment before moving it in. My mind has retained the feeling of excitement I had that day as I pressed my face against the window like Ralphie from Christmas Story, drooling over the coveted Red Ryder BB gun prominently displayed in the window of Higbee's, as I surveyed all the machines in the street.  I can recall the sense of elation slowly turn to anxiety and dread as they just kept coming off the truck, one after the other and filling the middle of the street, as I turned my head to look at the empty space that was going to house all of it and thinking to myself, “No way that steel jungle is going to fit in here!” And yet somehow it all fit just as planned! 



Picture, if you will, a day that was basically a giant 16 hour game of Tetris combined with Christmas morning on steroids! Unboxing and racking 4,000 lbs of iron was no small task! It took some doing to recycle that mountain of cardboard as well!



Present Day
Let’s fast forward to August of last year, and the start of a VERY successful personal training program.  I want to take just a moment to brag a little bit about my team. They do an incredible job with both quality and quantity of personal training. This is a very skilled group of people that I am very fortunate to get the opportunity to work with on a regular basis. As I sit and write this, as a team we have facilitated the personal training of over 420 CMC employees since August 2016. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, that equates to 1555 services booked, i.e., personal training sessions, consults, or class attendance since last August!  I couldn’t be more proud of my team and everything they have accomplished!  It has been a big transition and every one of them has stepped up to the challenge big time! It has been our honor and privilege to play a role in helping you live a happy, healthy life. We look forward to many more years to come!

Tim Clark
Fitness Club Manager 
Community Medical Fitness Center 
Email me with your questions and comments!