Revolutionary senior care center breaks ground along Texas A&M Biocorridor

The Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, in collaboration with CHI St. Joseph Health, broke ground today on the MatureWell Lifestyle Center, a health and wellness center devoted to seniors.

This two-story, 23,000-square-foot complex will offer adults 55 years old and up a single location to access a variety of outpatient services to help them achieve their health and wellness goals, manage chronic disease and take advantage of social and educational opportunities designed for them. The complex will include a gym and indoor pool, offering state-of-the-art equipment, fitness classes and personalized exercise plans. Other services include medication management with onsite pharmacists; rehabilitation services with physical, occupational and speech therapists and specialists in bladder and pelvic floor therapy; health and wellness coaching with customized wellness plans; and education on nutrition, disease and lifestyle management.

The center’s staff will include a board-certified geriatrician, a medical doctor specially trained to meet the unique health care needs of older adults. Geriatricians prevent, manage and develop care plans that address the special health problems of adults 55 and over.

The MatureWell Lifestyle Center will also provide a forum for research to improve and advance unique health care techniques for the older population. These efforts will utilize a team approach through interdisciplinary experiences at Texas A&M Health Science Center, led by the Texas A&M College of Medicine.

“This effort represents the first of many new initiatives for our faculty and students that will develop and implement novel clinical care delivery initiatives in collaboration with CHI St. Joseph Health,” said Paul Ogden, M.D., interim senior vice president and chief operating officer, Texas A&M Health Science Center, and interim dean, College of Medicine. “We hope to use our clinical collaboration and the best minds of Texas A&M to transform healthcare delivery for our seniors.”

Conveniently located adjacent to the Texas A&M Biocorridor, a growing area of the Bryan/College Station community, the MatureWell Lifestyle Center will be constructed within the Atlas Texas Development located near Traditions Club. This planned development will also include a luxury hotel, Parc senior living community, shops, restaurants and other lifestyle amenities. The MatureWell Lifestyle Center will complement the area’s array of developing retail and business entities that are customized to meet the unique needs of seniors and the professional community.

“The MatureWell Lifestyle Center, in partnership with CHI St. Joseph Health, is a priority project that will create a forum for research with far-reaching results and translational applications,” Ogden added. “As we continue to develop the Texas A&M Biocorridor as a national center for innovation and healthcare transformation, we remain committed to advancing programs that benefit patients at the heart of our community.”

“Our region is forecasted to grow significantly in the 55 and older age category, with the population of adults in that age group growing five times faster than all others combined,” said Donovan French, vice president for strategy and business development, CHI St. Joseph Health. “Through the unique concept of the MatureWell Lifestyle Center, CHI St. Joseph Health will radically change the way seniors achieve their wellness and lifestyle goals, as well as manage chronic disease.”

CHI St. Joseph Health and Texas A&M understand that as baby boomers age, they have different needs and expectations than did previous generations.

“We want seniors to continue to live vibrant, energetic and exciting lives, and good health is a key part of that,” said Kia Parsi, M.D., medical director senior service line, CHI St. Joseph Health. “We know they also want to manage chronic diseases differently. Our patients are more educated than ever, and they want to be active participants and decision makers in their care. At the MatureWell Lifestyle Center, physicians and clinicians from CHI St. Joseph Health and the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine will help them achieve these goals.”