500 First Coast residents witnessed today’s reveal of new Riverside flagship Y
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – August 26, 2016 – Joined by Mayor Lenny Curry and nearly 500 First Coast residents, the new Winston Family YMCA opened its doors with a ribbon cutting ceremony today at 10 a.m. The new flagship branch replaces the Yates Family YMCA, which served the community for more than six decades. The new Winston Family YMCA will continue to bolster neighborhood connections, create new opportunities, and provide the encouragement and support that will positively change the lives of area residents.
The celebration will continue throughout the weekend as the Winston Family YMCA offers free facility tours, fitness classes, biometric screenings and more festivities to all visitors. In addition, the Y’s 10th annual First Coast Games will host its closing ceremony and 5K event at the new facility Saturday morning.
“We would not be standing here without the generous contributions from each and every one of our donors who pledged to help us build a stronger and healthier First Coast,” said YMCA of Florida’s First Coast President and CEO Eric Mann. “We are proud to serve as a welcoming center and a positive force to motivate people of all ages and background to reach their full potential.”
The new branch will serve as a hub for the Y’s community-focused efforts to reduce chronic illnesses such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes. Through key partnerships with Baptist Health, Brooks Rehabilitation and Florida Blue, the Luther and Blanche Coggin Family Healthy Living Center offers a comprehensive range of programs to address health concerns of youth and adults.
“Baptist Health and YMCA of Florida’s First Coast share the belief that being healthy includes not only the body, but also the mind and spirit. And, as a fundamental part of our missions, we feel it is our social responsibility to help build healthier communities in northeast Florida,” said Baptist Health President and CEO Hugh Greene. “One way we have put our shared social responsibility in action is by creating an innovative resource for health and wellness services called the Y Healthy Living Center. Baptist Health team members are at our Y Healthy Living Centers year-round providing the public with free health screenings, health coaching, and community education. Our journey with the Y has just begun, and we are eager to watch this relationship grow for the future good of our community.”
“We are excited to continue our long-standing relationship with the Y and are looking forward to our new collaboration with Baptist Health and Florida Blue within the Healthy Living Center,” said Doug Baer, CEO of Brooks Rehabilitation. “Through our physical therapy clinic, we will be able to provide individualized treatments for orthopedic conditions as well as free orthopedic, balance and pelvic health screenings to members of the Y and the surrounding areas. With our partners in healthcare, we can fulfill our vision to help people achieve their highest quality of life.”
“At Florida Blue, we are committed to helping people achieve better, healthful habits by providing support to the communities we serve,” said Florida Blue Chairman and CEO Pat Geraghty. “We are honored to be part of the Winston Family YMCA, and we look forward to collaborating with the Y, Baptist Health, Brooks Rehab, and other community partners to improve the health and wellbeing of our fellow Northeast Florida residents.”
The Winston Family YMCA is located on the same property as the existing Yates Family YMCA, but closer to the river. The Yates Y is now officially closed. The building will be demolished and replaced with an outside parking lot for Winston Family YMCA members and visitors.
Click here for photos from the Grand Opening Festivities.
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The Y
For more than 100 years, YMCA of Florida’s First Coast has been providing men, women and children of all ages, and from all walks of life, opportunities to build stronger bonds, live healthy and become more engaged with their communities. Learn more: www.FirstCoastYMCA.org.
About Baptist Health
Baptist Health is a faith-based, mission-driven system in Northeast Florida comprised of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville; Baptist Medical Center Beaches; Baptist Medical Center Nassau; Baptist Medical Center South; Baptist Clay Medical Campus and Wolfson Children’s Hospital – the region’s only children’s hospital. All Baptist Health hospitals, along with Baptist Home Health Care, have achieved Magnet™ status for excellence in patient care. Baptist Health is part of Coastal Community Health, a regional affiliation between Baptist Health, Flagler Hospital and Southeast Georgia Health System forming a highly integrated hospital network focused on significant initiatives designed to enhance the quality and value of care provided to our contiguous communities. Baptist Health has the area’s only dedicated heart hospital; orthopedic institute; women’s services; neurological institute, including comprehensive neurosurgical services, a comprehensive stroke center and three primary stroke centers; a Bariatric Center of Excellence; a full range of psychology and psychiatry services; urgent care services; and primary and specialty care physicians’ offices throughout Northeast Florida. The Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center is a regional destination for multidisciplinary cancer care which is clinically integrated with the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the internationally renowned cancer treatment and research institution in Houston. For more details, visit baptistjax.com.
About Brooks Rehabilitation
Brooks Rehabilitation has been serving the southeast for over 40 years. As a non-profit organization, Brooks Rehabilitation, based in Jacksonville, FL, operates one of the nation’s largest inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in the US with 160 beds, one of the region’s largest home healthcare agencies, 26 outpatient rehabilitation clinics, a skilled nursing unit dedicated to orthopedic rehabilitation, a rehabilitation medicine physician practice and a campus designed for senior services with skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care. In addition, Brooks Rehabilitation operates the Brooks Rehabilitation Clinical Research Center which specializes in research for stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and more to advance the science of rehabilitation. Brooks Rehabilitation also provides many low or no cost community programs and services such as the Brooks Clubhouse and our Brooks Adaptive Sports and Recreation Program to improve the quality of life for people living with physical disabilities. For more information, visit BrooksRehab.org.
About Florida Blue
Florida Blue, Florida’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, is a leader in Florida’s health care industry. Our mission is to help people and communities achieve better health. Florida Blue has more than 5 million health care members and serves 15.5 million people in 16 states through its affiliated companies. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., it is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information, visit www.FloridaBlue.com.
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