Paige Backman
pbackman@uwyo.edu
The Wellness Center located inside of Half Acre gym has been open for about a week.
The Wellness Center is open to the university community from Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Any faculty member or student associated with the university has access to the Wellness Center’s services. Those services include athletic training, personal training and massage therapy. While most of the services are free, massage therapy will have a charge at a competitive rate.
The center’s website clarifies the Wellness Center is a place to promote a healthier environment for the UW community. Other campus and community organizations work in tandem with the Wellness Center to address health needs.
There are 10 areas of health the Wellness Center focuses on. Academic impacts (specifically stress, sleep, anxiety), alcohol and other drug use, general health, mental health, nutrition, physical activity and fitness, safety, sexual health, tobacco use and occupational financial wellness.
“The purpose of the Wellness Center is to provide a safe place for students and faculty to come and feel comfortable with the people they are talking to,” Becca Gillard said.
Gillard is an employee of the Wellness Center and has been a help desk attendant for the center since it opened.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of educational programs and health promotion resources and supplies,” Assistant Director of Wellness Lena Newlin said.
The educational programs vary in topic but are all geared toward developing an aspect of health defined above, Newlin said, adding that the Wellness Center hopes to improve health with a holistic approach.
As of right now, the Wellness Center is getting settled, Gillard said. Just behind the window where Gillard sits there is a room that has been nicknamed the “Zen Den.” The staff is eager to get rolling with the programs and services the Wellness Center has to offer.
“It’s kind of slow right now, but once people become more aware of the program then more people will come in,” Gillard said.
While the start of the Wellness Center has been slow, the staff and students are optimistic about the future and impact of the Wellness Center.
