LiveWell CardioPulmonary Rehabilitation 35th Anniversary
A joint Christmas party luncheon/35th anniversary celebration brought more than 125 current and former Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation patients together at the LiveWell Center on December 4.
The program began in 1990 in the back room of the Life Focus Center on 28th Avenue. They moved to their current location, Cloverleaf Medical Plaza, south of Walmart on US Hwy. 49, under the FGH outpatient destination umbrella of Health Management Connection, which included CardioPulmonary Rehab, Diabetes Care Center, Outpatient Nutrition, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and HF Infusion Clinic. All of that is currently under the name LiveWell Center is Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Outpatient Nutrition.
Some of these patients have had bypass surgery, others have had heart attacks or other heart ailments. Others have added hip and knee replacements, while others know the LiveWell Center has more to offer them than just walking the streets of their neighborhood.
Willie Woullard’s time at LiveWell dates back to the beginning, having started the program in mid-1990. Health problems brought Woullard to the program where she stayed for 17 years and did a little bit of everything to stay healthy. She stopped for a while but started getting back into the swing of things about two weeks ago.
Others throughout the room have been there for various lengths of time, and most have continued on with the program after their required commitment has run out.
Judy Smith, who moved to the Hub City with her husband upon retirement, retired as a 21-year veteran of the New York Police Department. The lieutenant was standing at the corner of Delancy and Norfolk Streets the morning the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001.
LiveWell and the staff were great and very helpful to Smith following a heart attack she suffered in 2015. She continued on with the program until 2019, saying it was a blessing for her. She continues to walk about 1 ½ miles every morning.
Don Bales was on vacation in Florida when he began having heart trouble and went to the ER at a small hospital where he found the door locked and had to knock for admittance. After recuperating from bypass surgery in the Sunshine State, he finally made it back to the Hub City and started working out at LiveWell. He’s been coming ever since and hopes his tenure is an encouragement to those who have just started out. “Some only come the required time but others keep coming back,” he said, noting that his group had lifted weights and done some of the heavier lifting when it came to working out.
Another member started just after Katrina, realizing that walking in the neighborhood was not enough for “an old lady like her.” She likes the supervision and the people she’s met. She appreciates the fact that there is always an RN in the building in case there is an incident that comes up. She also is glad there she is accountability with her newfound friends. “If I don’t come for a couple of days, they call and check on me to make sure I’m OK,” she said. “I’ve been doing this too long to quit. I might fall apart if I did.”
Carlos Boyte started in 2004. He was cleaning up debris after Hurricane Ivan when he had a heart issue, which his wife, Margaret, a nurse, identified sooner than he did. Luckily, there was no damage. Later, he had two bypasses, then bypass surgery again, and has since had hip and knee replacements.
During COVID when everything was closed down, he got down on his living room floor to exercise. These days you’ll find him at the LiveWell door every morning at 6:30 am when they open – every day of the week. “I’m not trying to be an Arnold Schwarzenegger,” he laughed. “I need this place as bad as a rooster needs a worm.
Many who work out refer to it as the best kept secret in Hattiesburg.
