Collaboration at the core of future on-site Center for Healthy Living

May 11, 2012

Progress toward a Purdue on-site health center will move forward quickly now that CHS Health Services Inc. has been selected to operate the center, according to Luis E. Lewin, vice president for human resources.

Faculty and staff representing a variety of departments and academic units participated in the process that led to recommending CHS to manage the facility, which will be known as the Center for Healthy Living.

"Collaboration was key in selecting a company," Lewin says, "and collaboration will continue to be a guiding principle."

Lewin says that the project team will be meeting now with various groups around campus -- both those who may be providing services and those who may be using services.

"The purpose of the Center for Healthy Living is to bring together resources from the campus and the community to provide the best possible health and wellness experience for our faculty and staff," Lewin says, noting that Purdue WorkLife Programs will integrate many of its services into the center.

Clients using the center will have a health care team that includes a physician, a nurse and a health educator working together with the client. For clients who have an established relationship with a community physician, the center's health team will consider the community doctor to be part of their team.

With the client's permission, the center's health care team will update the community doctor about services the client is receiving through the center. This will allow the center's health team, the client and the community doctor to work collaboratively on the client's behalf.

"The Center for Healthy Living will provide a different style of health care than most people are used to," says Lewin, who encourages faculty and staff to watch Purdue Today for more news and information. "Over the next few months, we'll be sharing a fuller, more detailed picture of the Center for Healthy Living experience."