Bon Secours Community Hospital Hosts End of Season Luncheon for Walking Group

PORT JERVIS, NY  – (November 30) On November 28, members of  "Get Fit Port Jervis," a community walking initiative created by Bon Secours Community Hospital, celebrated their "End of the Walking Group Season" luncheon. 

The event has been provided courtesy of the hospital in its cafeteria each year since the group formed in May of 2014.

The Walking Group was conceived and is currently led by Karen Little, MSPT, Physical Therapist, of Bon Secours Community Hospital's Physical Rehabilitation Department. 

Little spends her lunch hours taking the 2.25-mile Port Jervis Fittness Loop walk with more than a dozen people from all walks of life. 

Regular walks are scheduled in the spring, summer, and fall on Mondays and Fridays at noon in front of Bon Secours Community Hospital. And this year the hospital introduced a 1.0 mile walk on Tuesday and Thursday for those who were not physically ready for the longer walk. The walks will resume in April 2017 or earlier if the weather cooperates. .

"Studies show that walking does wonders for your health," said Little. "It can help reduce the risk of everything from cancer to coronary disease."

She added that the Port Jervis walking group has grown in participation and spirit.

"Chances are," she said, "you wouldn't have noticed them when they started their sessions two years ago. After all, it was just a couple of people. But, like clockwork and stopped only by inclement weather or icy sidewalks, this group of walkers kept at it. And they slowly gained a following."

Retired nurse Cindy Hendershot, 79, for example, joined the walking group just over a year ago and she reported that it helped her lose weight.

"When I began walking I stayed at the back of the group," she recalled. "Now I'm up front. And besides losing 26 pounds, the latest results of my blood work have been so good that my doctor said I should just keep doing whatever it is that I'm doing." 

The Port Jervis Fitness Loop was created in a partnership between Bon Secours Community Hospital, the City of Port Jervis and the Orange County Health Department. Since then Little along with guest members of the medical staff have lead organized walks each week. 

The Fitness Loop, a designated Orange County Trail, is marked every ¼ mile by oval white signs. The entire loop is 2.25 miles long, and continues down East Main Street to Jersey Avenue, down Jersey Avenue to Pike Street, up Pike Street to East Main Street, and past Bon Secours Community Hospital. Walkers can start and finish their walks at any point along the way.

For more information, contact Karen Little at 845-858-7110 or karen_little@bshsi.org

About Bon Secours Community Hospital, a Member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network 

For nearly a century, Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, New York, has served the residents of Western Orange County, New York, Pike County, Pennsylvania, and Northern Sussex County, New Jersey, as the area's premier healthcare provider.  The hospital serves its community with 122 beds for acute care and medical-surgical services, a 24-hour emergency department, long-term care and rehabilitation, a dedicated bariatric surgery unit, behavioral health, and outpatient services.  For more information about Bon Secours Community Hospital and the services provided, visit www.bschs.bonsecours.com or follow the hospital at www.facebook.com/bschs and www.twitter.com/bschs 

About Westchester Medical Center Health Network 

The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,500-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, NY, spanning seven hospitals and several campuses and locations in the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 10,000 people, with nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1 and Level 2 Trauma Centers, the region's only acute care children's hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals and numerous health-related centers, programs and services, today WMCHealth is the leading and pre-eminent provider of integrated health in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit www.WMCHealth.org

                          

PHOTOS: 


1. Regular walks scheduled in the spring, summer, and Fall Mondays and Fridays in front of Bon Secours Community Hospital.



2. On November 28, members of  "Get Fit Port Jervis," a community walking initiative created by Bon Secours Community Hospital, celebrated their "End of the Walking Group Season" luncheon.