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Show re ae 2 5 z : ; PO Ee ee e ty | | ‘medically based fitness facility’ opens in Heber ‘TIM WESTBY ‘COURIER STAFF oe : lan Bluth used to making his living asa physical therapist by traveling to places like Roosevelt, Vernal and the Wasatch Front. Now, the 30-year Heber Valley resident has decided to stay put in hopes patients will come to him. To help ensure that will happen, Bluth used a stroke of | shrewd business savvy by combining his expertise in physical therapy with a fitness gym to create what he calls “a medicallybased fitness facility.” _ : | : “We're not just a Golds Gym kind of place, ” he is quick to point out. a | es | : _ Indeed, the. Fit Stop has a wide variety of offerings for the injured and healthy alike. On the “Gold’s Gym” side there are programs ranging from personal training, group fitness, indoor cycling, and water aerobics to kick boxing, yoga and karate. _ The physical therapy side has several therapists on staff — - including Bluth and his son Tyler— who focus on occupational _ therapy, speech language pathology, pool therapy, and other _ medically-based exercise programs for diabetics, cardiac patients, orthopedic patients and others. Bluth is especially excited about the aquatics programs that offers patients the therapeutic value of water. “I always envi- gioned a place where we would have aquatic as part of physical _ therapy.” ee a | 7 ag Part of the inspiration for Fit Stop came from years of dealing with insurance companies. “The more I took care of people that were injured after an accident, the more I could see the value of physical therapy,” says Bluth. 3 e The problem is getting insurance c ompanies to pay b enefits for the entire length of time patients needed therapy. Moving patients from physical therapy into self-directed exercise programs costs insurance companies less so they’re willing to pay| _ longer, says Bluth. In some cases, insurance companies will even pay membership dues from anywhere for a few months to a year. Bluth admits to some angst over whether the Heber Valley is big enough to support such a large-scale facility. But local ortho- oe meee -— ER CTO BNE Wy MCGUINWESS 2 | Alan Bluth, owner of the new Fit Stop, stands next to some exercise i ey ela eels . ee i} | i pedic surgeons supported the idea and convinced him it was pos- sible. “I wouldn’t have opened a facility this size without the encouragement of the medical community,” he says. When asked why he took the risk in Heber, he says simply. wo like it here. : Bluth seems proud of the staff of 30 full and part-time employees that he has assembled. He says he was nervous he’d be able to find people to fill many of the highly specialized jobs, but “all of a sudden people came out of the woodwork” and most of them, he says, were highly qualified. , | Pas _ The Fit Stop’s grand opening is this week and is located in the Providence Professional Center at 380 East 1500 South. pay ee . e pic - singles, couples and families. maul: tim@wasatchcountycourier.com Gas Watch ee } | | ae . T rimart/Chevron a : : | 5 ecliNiess The Fit Stop offers an extensive aquatics program. Wasatch County te 400 N. Main, Heber $1,599 —< $1.599 PRICES FOR REGULAR UNLEADED _ OBSERVED 05/25/01 imart/Tex. 1.599 oe $1.599 $1599 $1.599 $1.599 np E ict gp Watch this space for weekly updates. |! timart/Chevron Midway Main Street Station Conoco Midway | * athichavty teat 3 7 of : Exercise as Therapy New :% Aw ated orem } RTSLS Ma |