Quality Care in the Neighborhood

Lake Martin Community Hospital

STORY BY LONNA UPTON & PHOTO BY AUDRA SPEARS

Lake Martin Community Hospital and the Wellness Center at Lake Martin, both part of the Ivy Creek Healthcare system, promote healthy lifestyles every day for Lake Martin area residents.

The community hospital staff and physicians are dedicated to providing high quality patient and acute care in the Lake Martin area. They work to support, educate and develop the community while maintaining a financially viable facility, which continues to serve the area. Professional growth and development of all its employees is also a priority. “I am really proud to work in community health, and the Wellness Center is part of a full-fledged campus – the hospital, emergency room, physical therapy, a pharmacy and a family medical practice with four physicians,” said Michael Keating, director of the Wellness Center.

Laboratory testing on the campus provides services for outpatients, hospital and emergency room patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Pain management, sleep studies and a weight loss clinic are part of the system, in addition to pediatrics, podiatry, orthopedics and radiology.

The Wellness Center goals are to encourage the community to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles by providing physical therapy, rehabilitation and fitness services for patients and members. Memberships are available for individuals and families.

The indoor saltwater pool is heated and equipped with a lift chair for disabled patients. Hydrotherapy jets provide massage and treatment resistance. Aquatic exercise classes work on maximum cardio and muscle training without long-term negative effects on the joints and muscles. A certified aquatics instructor is available to geriatric patients, pregnant women and parents, families and everyone in between who would benefit from the positive mental health aspects of water-based exercise and the physical effects of burning calories, improving cardiovascular health and decreasing disability.

A personal trainer at the Wellness Center works with individuals to create a personalized fitness assessment, which is used to determine an exercise program with both health and fitness goals. The facility is equipped with up-to-date Nautilus and Cybex machines, plus a number of treadmills, ellipticals and recumbent bikes, as well as free weights.

The center offers classes in water aerobics twice a day, five days a week. Yoga and core exercise classes also are available to strengthen and tone, as well as improve flexibility, balance and coordination.

“We are happy to announce more accessibility to our facility. In November 2021, we began offering gym access 24/7. So any day of the week, any time of day, members are welcome to workout. We have many members who want to get their workout in before they head out to work, so they are here as early as 5 a.m. They are very excited about adding more accessibility to the gym, so they can be more flexible with their time while staying fit,” Keating said.

Lake Martin Community Hospital provides conveniently located services and support to build healthy lifestyles

First in COVID prevention

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear scrubs, and it is no secret that frontline workers kept the world spinning in 2020 and 2021, especially in the Dadeville community, where Lake Martin Community Hospital offered the first opportunity for area residents to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

“The best thing that happened to us through the pandemic was that Lake Martin Community Hospital was one of just 15 hospitals in Alabama to receive the first round of vaccines,” said Heidi Smith, director of marketing at Ivy Creek Medical.

She said there was no particular reason why LMCH was chosen but that pharmacist Johnny Latorre was able to secure the specific freezer required to store the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine weeks before they became available to frontline workers and doctors.

“The freezer had to be kept at negative 70 degrees,” Smith said. “But Mike Latorre was instrumental in securing it for the hospital. It cost right at $11,000, but it meant we were able to secure the vaccines, and that was the most important thing for us.

“I’ll never forget it. It was Dec. 15 when we received the first set of Pfizer vaccines. We were all a little afraid but hopeful, too. Two days later, on Dec. 17, our CEO here at IVY Creek Healthcare, Mike Bruce, was among the first few to get vaccinated. He wanted to lead by example, and he did. Most of us followed suit, myself included; and then, we got our booster 21 days later.”