Date: Fri 17-Oct-1997

Publication: Hea

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Be-Well-Center-Waterbury

Full Text:

Being Well In The Brass City Is Just A Stroll Through The Mall

(with photos)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

WATERBURY - The Be Well Center has opened at Brass Mill Center, a new shopping

mall built at the site of the former Scovill Manufacturing Company's brass

works.

But the Be Well Center doesn't look like a store in a mall.

Located on the second level of the mall near Sears and the mall's food court,

the 600-square-foot Be Well Center, which is an arm of Waterbury Hospital,

serves several health-based purposes. The varied services to be offered by the

Be Well Center - mammography, Internet access to health information, medical

discussions, and screenings - will be introduced in stages, with everything to

be in place by the first of the year.

Mall shoppers who use the Be Well Center have access to computers linked to

the Internet. The users retrieve computerized information on illness

prevention, diseases and treatments.

Internet access allows users to gain computer links to popular

consumer-oriented medical World Wide Web sites on the massive computer

network, explained Carole Melton, the center's manager who also is a

mammography technician.

The medical web sites provide information on a broad range of topics including

arthritis, diabetes, heart conditions, blood cholesterol and hypertension,

among many others. When center users find an Internet item that interests

them, it is printed on paper for closer review. The information is provided at

no cost.

The Be Well Center provides medical information, not medical advice, said

Sheila Hogan, Waterbury Hospital's public relations director.

Ms Hogan said she knows of no facility comparable to the Be Well Center in the

state.

In the future, Dr John Elser, a retired internist, will conduct scheduled

"chat sessions" with Internet users linked to the Be Well Center web site.

The center also will provide an Ask A Nurse feature on its web site through

which Internet users can post medical queries for replies by a nurse.

The address for the Be Well Center's World Wide Web site on the Internet is:

www.bewellcenter.com.

Medical specialists will visit the center for scheduled public discussions on

their work in medicine. The center also provides a physician referral service.

The facility also will provide testing for blood cholesterol, blood glucose,

and blood pressure. Ms Hogan said pamphlets will be available to explain the

testing process. Blood tests will be performed for free or for a small fee.

The center sells items such as blood pressure cuffs, medical alert bracelets,

portable oxygen tanks, crutches and medical emergency response systems

Brass Mill Walkers

The Be Well Center has organized a walking group known as the Brass Mill

Walkers. Its members walk in the mall for exercise.

A relational database, which is part of the Be Well Center's web site, allows

participants to record their walking exercise sessions at the mall.

Running totals of mall walkers' exercise sessions are kept on file in the

center's database, displaying the amount of calories burned based on the

height, weight and gender of participants. These running totals can be

compared to walkers' individual goals to chart their progress.

Mall walkers who have access to the Internet at home can link to the Be Well

Center web site to inspect its contents and personal walking records.

Mammography

On October 1, the center began offering mammography to women to check for

breast cancer. The hospital is trying to make mammography accessible to all

women, including those who are unable to pay for the X-rays.

Some women have had a prescription for a mammogram written for them by their

doctor in the past, but never have had the testing done, Ms Hogan said. They

can bring that prescription to the Be Well center and be tested, she said.

Also, some women who have never had a mammogram done because they are

intimidated by health-care facilities will be more likely to have the cancer

testing done in the subdued atmosphere of the Be Well Center, Ms Hogan said.

Waterbury Hospital is trying to make mammography as simple and convenient as

possible by offering it at the Brass Mill Center, she said. The quality of the

testing is as high as that done at the hospital, she said.

Tastefully decorated with art prints, furnishings, and subtle lighting, the

center plays muted music to set a relaxed tone for women receiving mammograms

in a private setting.

"We're trying to take some of the mystery out of mammography," Ms Hogan said.

When women arrive at the mall for their mammography appointments, they are

provided with beepers. When their testing time nears, the beeper sounds,

summoning them to Be Well Center.

The flexible testing schedule will allow walk-ins to have mammograms performed

that day.

For women who lack medical insurance, mammograms may be done for free or at

low cost through financial help provided by The Waterbury Foundation, Ms Hogan

said.

Ms Melton said she is cooperating with the American Cancer Society to provide

special reduced rates for mammography for women who qualify.