1. | News & Know How | First Person
ihrsa.org | JANUARY 2016 | Club Business International 31
Midtown Health manages facilities for hospital wellness
centers, corporate fitness centers, and office building
amenityclubs.Whatsortofspecialskillsdoesthatrequire?
We’re a leader in customized fitness center management
and employee wellness solutions, with 40 years of expertise.
As the managed club division of TCA Holdings, we’re the
13th-largest club operator in the U.S.
We offer strong central services, a management team,
and operational support, as well as the ability to maximize
a club’s profit potential. Our 50 associates provide clubs
with services encompassing facility design, equipment
selection, purchasing, information systems, sales and
marketing, accounting, human resources, insurance, risk
management, and associate learning and development. We
also have national directors in facilities, sales, operations,
fitness, tennis, and spa.
Your best advice for club operators who want to align with
physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers?
Sometimes, commercial clubs try to enter this space to
drive memberships. But health systems see right through
a membership promotion that’s disguised with a lab coat.
Instead, you should find out how your club can best serve a
health system. By doing so, you’ll lay a foundation of trust,
and create a mutually beneficial scenario. Is the health
system looking, for instance, for an extension of their
physical therapy, or for a prediabetic weight loss solution?
Your club can play a huge role in the continuum of care.
Couldyoudescribeoneofyourhealthcare-relatedofferings?
Our ongoing Wellness Discovery Program provides move-
ment, healthy eating, and well-being tips in a group setting.
Physicians refer their patients for everything from
prediabetic counseling to problems with high blood
pressure. We create a communications loop through the
physician’s electronic medical records to report their
patients’ data. The results are impressive, and allow
Midtown Health to serve as “physician extenders.”
You’re going to be facilitating the Women’s Leadership
Summit at IHRSA 2016 in Orlando. Tell us a bit about that.
The summit started six years ago in honor of the late Julie
Main, the co-owner and president of the West Coast
Athletic Clubs, and a past president and former board mem-
ber of IHRSA. The goal of the summit is to provide women
with leadership inspiration, education, and collaboration.
Over the years, we’ve transitioned from presenting a
panel of industry speakers to inviting an outside guest
speaker to address the leadership topic, which, this year, is
well-being. Our speaker, Dr. Beth Cabrera, is the author of
Beyond Happy: Women, Work, and Well-Being, and a senior
scholar at George Mason University’s Center for the
Advancement of Well-Being. She encourages women to
focus on improving their well-being, instead of always
trying to find balance. I concur.
What women’s concerns do you feel still need to be
addressed?
Our industry is still dominated by men who tend to hire,
mentor, and promote other men. Women need the
same opportunities. Women bring unique strengths and
perspectives to bear—expressiveness, flexibility, and
intuition. True leaders understand that diversity offers the
greatest opportunity for a business to succeed only if every-
one gets to play to their strengths.
The ideal? When women become leaders, not business-
women, and have the confidence and support to achieve
their career goals. And I’d like to see accomplished men
and women make it their personal mission to help others
along the way. —|
Debra Siena
President, Midtown Health, a division of
TCA Holdings, LLC
Chicago, Illinois
By Patricia Amend
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