Hanover Area YMCA and WellSpan Health announced today that they have teamed up to improve the health and wellness of Hanover and Littlestown area residents, with a special focus on youth fitness.
The partnership comes as the Hanover Area YMCA is set to open its new South Hanover YMCA Sports and Wellness Complex May 13, building on the organizations’ successful relationship to improve community health and wellness in the Hanover area.
“The new partnership allows us to provide more to our members and area youth. The WellSpan Functional Movement screening and training has really provided our athletes a foundation to their strength training programs and they have seen significant improvements in over time,” explains Liam Behrens, CEO, Hanover Area YMCA.
“For more than 100 years, WellSpan has been committed to the good health of those who call Hanover home,” says Mark Deitch, M.D., vice president of orthopedic services, WellSpan Health. “We know the people of this community value teamwork and injury prevention, and we are excited to partner with the Hanover Area YMCA to help those in our community live healthier and truly be well.”
As the official healthcare and sports medicine provider for the Hanover Area YMCA, WellSpan Health will help the Hanover Y expand its Fit and StrongTM Youth Training program to both its North and South Hanover Y locations and within the Littlestown Area School District. The program focuses on youth fitness and weight loss through nutritional support and athletic development. Certified Y staff members also teach leadership skills and healthy body image to improve participants’ overall lifestyle.
WellSpan will provide funding for the fitness and training equipment. In addition, WellSpan Sports Medicine staff will work side-by-side with the Hanover Y team to develop programs aimed at reducing the risk of injury and improving strength and fitness of individuals and athletic groups and teams. This includes functional movement screenings by WellSpan staff to help adapt sessions to reduce the risk of injury, guide staff and observe positive changes. These screenings, for example, will support youth swimmers with sport-specific stability and control.
“Not only is this community partnership a reflection of WellSpan’s longstanding commitment to the greater Hanover community, it supports our work to help our friends and neighbors – including our young people and athletic teams – achieve the highest level of physical fitness and performance,” according to Samuel D’Agata, M.D., an orthopedic and sports medicine specialist with WellSpan Orthopedics in Hanover. “My partners and I are excited about the potential of this new partnership to prevent injuries and improve the overall health of Hanover and Littlestown-area residents.”
The Hanover Area YMCA’s new, 78,000-square-foot sports and wellness complex is located at 650 Fairview Drive, Hanover.
The Grand Opening for the new complex will be held on Saturday, May 13, and will feature free demonstrations, youth and adult sports clinics, tours, live music, free food and tented activities for the whole family.
The new complex includes a 40,000-square-foot indoor athletic field and outdoor athletic fields, indoor/outdoor walking track, cardio and wellness center, full size basketball court, group fitness studio, cycle studio, XerGamesTM Interactive Youth Fitness room, Kinder Class and Child Watch and the WellSpan Health Training Room.
As part of the new partnership, certified athletic trainers from WellSpan Sports Medicine will staff the athletic training center and support other Hanover Y programs, including a brain injury support group and concussion program, general injury prevention and programs through local school districts.
The partnership will also expand Safe Kids York County in the Hanover area. With WellSpan Health serving as the lead agency, Safe Kids York County is a coalition of public, private and volunteer organizations whose goal is to enhance the capacity of childhood injury prevention programs in York County.
The WellSpan-YMCA partnership is funded, in part, through a WellSpan Health Community Partnership Grant. These grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations that improve the health of the communities and people WellSpan serves. Last year, WellSpan awarded more than $230,000 in grants to local community organizations.
For more information about Hanover Area YMCA, visit www.hanoverymca.org.
For more information about WellSpan community health and wellness, visit www.WellSpan.org.
