Renovation will begin in 2019 to house WMU’s Adult Wellness Programs

Planning has been underway for major renovations for the property at 110 Cork St. in Kalamazoo, purchased in June of 2017 to house WMU’s Adult Wellness Programs.

After more than 18 years of renting space, WMU Senior Day Services, offered through Western Michigan University Aging Services will have a permanent location starting in the fall of 2019. Also included in the building will be the George Ishler Adult Wellness Lab. Plans are underway for renovation with an expected completion date of August 2019.

WMU’s College of Health and Human Services received a major gift in 2018 to establish the George Ishler Wellness Lab. Gretchen Ishler made the gift in the name of her late husband, Dr. George Ishler.

The wellness lab will focus on interprofessional practice for collaborative education with students from speech, language, and hearing sciences; music therapy; occupational therapy; physical therapy and nursing.

During the fall 2018 semester, Sandra Glista, master faculty specialist in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, began to assemble faculty partners from the College of Health and Human Services for interprofessional collaboration related to the wellness lab.

“Our goal is to develop the lab’s programs to further the college’s clinical education foundations,” says Glista. “As with all of our clinical endeavors, we will build and strengthen practical, interprofessional skills in our students while providing health and wellness activities and services for older adults in our community.”

In the community, the goal of the Ishler Wellness Lab is to help older adults remain actively engaged in daily activities and promote their independence with opportunities for professional treatment, social engagement and education. New services will be added to fully utilize the new space, according to Carol Sundberg, Ph.D., and director of WMU’s Center for Disability Services, Aging Services and the Unified Clinics. "The new service additions will promote health and wellness for people with conditions that affect mobility, strength, ambulation, speech/language, cognition, hearing, vision and sensory function,” says Sundberg.

Renovations for the fully accessible building will begin in the coming months. The project involves some noticeable exterior improvements; new driveway, signage and parking lot. While the interior improvements include complete renovation of about 5,300 square feet featuring office space, gender-neutral restrooms, kitchen/dining are, activity space and the Ishler Wellness Lab.

Schematic illustrations of how exterior may look when the project is completed