Little Plummer Flexes Its Muscles With Health Spa

Heart rates are jumping in the rural community of Plummer, Idaho. Now, with excitement. Next spring, literally.

The Benewah Medical Center, run by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, begins construction today on a $4.1 million, 43,000-square-foot health spa, complete with a swimming pool, weight room and aerobics area. All in this tiny town of 850 people.

The project is the third phase of the Benewah Medical Center’s expansion. The center will open in May and employ 20 people.

Seven years ago, when just the clinic opened, officials were worried about getting doctors to the area, said Gary Leva, medical center director.

“Not even in our wildest imagination could we have ever thought of that (the health spa),” Leva said.

With the medical center’s initial success, officials three years ago began working on illness prevention. The latest project is a way of “tackling lifestyle,” Leva said.

The health club will be open to the public. There has been no discussion of membership prices, Leva said.

The tribe built its nationally renowned medical center in 1990. Since then, word of mouth has spread on its model of rural health care.

“For years and years, people who needed health care, regardless if they were Indian or not, had to go off to get treatment,” tribal press secretary Bob Bostwick said.

In 1994 the medical center spent $1.4 million to triple the size of the 6,750-square-foot clinic. Last year, the medical clinic limited the number of patients it could serve, because of an overload of people.

The medical center contributed $2 million from its earnings, said Donna Matheson, the tribe’s communication director. The remaining money came from state and federal grants and private contributions.

Plummer and Worley school district officials said they plan to use the facility for school physical education classes, a possible swim team and training for other athletic teams.

‘It’s a great thing to add to the town,” said Kurt Hoffman, principal of Lakeside High School. While the high school is looking at a possible swim team, he added, “we haven’t seen if any other schools in the area have them.”

Other business owners say they’re considering employee health club memberships.

“It’s nothing but positive benefits for employees,” said Richard Jewell, general manager for Rayonier in Plummer. Rayonier employs 122 people, and the company believes better health care makes better employees, Jewell added.

The best impact for Plummer may be for the creation of jobs, said Neil Meyer, extension policy and rural development economist at the University of Idaho. Those new employees will spend money in the community.

“The fact that this is recreation and entertainment, that should keep people home,” Meyer said. “If people spend money locally, it will keep money there, not in Spokane.”

, DataTimes