On Thursday, October 18, the Winona Family YMCA held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new building, to be located next to Winona Health, with an anticipated opening in spring of 2020. We are excited to be a part of the new Y and about what this means for our community.

Winona Health and the YMCA have enjoyed a long-standing relationship and a history of cooperating on shared services. Years ago, our Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy staff developed an aquatic therapy program and the YMCA provided the pool facility for us to meet the needs of our patients. We have come a long way in our vision of working together – and the next step in realizing that vision launched with the October 18 groundbreaking.

Winona Health’s rehabilitation services – including Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy, along with Massage Therapy will be located in the new YMCA building. Patients working with our rehabilitation team to recover from and rehabilitate after various health situations will be able to seamlessly continue on their path to sustained health and wellness in partnership with both Winona Health and the YMCA.

Our organizations have synergistic missions and complementary programming and services, which have long histories and deep roots in Winona. In fact, in 2019 Winona Health will be celebrating our 125 th anniversary. The YMCA has a 130-year history in Winona. I would suggest that we have a covenant relationship with the Winona community – we have been there for you and you have been there for us. Said another way, our respective commitments to the community go equally as deep as the support and commitment of the community to Winona Health and the YMCA. Our missions are not just words – but actions.

We believe collaborating provides the best of everything for our community. We specifically wanted to ensure that we both use our community resources, via our respective organizations, to the benefit of the Winona community rather than compete, duplicate services and waste important resources.

As the healthcare landscape changes dramatically, it is clear that health, wellness, prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of conditions and chronic condition management are the keys to a brighter future – and all of these crucial services are Winona Health’s sweet spot. Our full spectrum of primary care, surgical and specialty services, residential care, hospice and home-based care, and rehabilitation services address the vast majority of our community’s needs. Our partnerships with the YMCA, and so many other local service agencies, will continue to make a significant difference in the lives our families, friends, and neighbors.

We are very excited to be a part of the new YMCA – our partnership promises something very special for our community.

To those of you who have supported Winona Health and/or the YMCA over the years and continue to support local organizations and services or who will do so in the future, thank you for joining us in having a positive impact on our community. Winona is truly a strong, independent and special community.

Rachelle Schultz, EdD
President/CEO

Through this digital column, I hope to shine a light on what we’re working on both internally and beyond our walls in collaboration with other community-focused organizations.