SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The Shannon Community Fitness Program offers patients wanting to make more progress after completing therapy an opportunity to meet with professionals who can help make it happen. The program wasn’t always as big as it is now, though.

Jessica Ayers, a physical therapist with Shannon Medical Center, said she and her colleagues created the Shannon Community Fitness Program in 2020 after they learned that several patients were left with few options to continue their progress after completing therapy.

“A lot of our patients are not going to go join Planet Fitness,” Ayers said while providing an example. “At neurorehabilitation, where some of our patients suffer from neuropathy or strokes, Parkinson’s, brain injuries, they don’t really fit the typical mold for general fitness.”

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The program began with just five people, with classes being hosted twice a week. It has evolved over the years, however, morphing into a subscription-based exercise program that offers group classes and individual sessions with licensed physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists.

Despite the program’s growth, the size of its group classes has been purposefully restricted to ensure participant safety.

“At most we have seven people per class … because we intend to keep our patients safe, we don’t want them to fall,” Ayers said.

Ayers said the program is ideal for individuals who are nervous about using more public exercise spaces, such as the Shannon Health Club and the YMCA, and for those who have completed therapy for neurological conditions and are searching for professional trainers.

The program is operated in its own standalone building, located at 3501 Executive Drive. For more information on the program, call (325)-747-8025 and ask for Ayers or visit the program’s webpage on the Shannon Medical Center website.

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