The Children’s Hospital at Providence and the El Paso Independent School District are pleased to announce their collaborating efforts to promote Health and Wellness by sponsoring Travis Elementary as the 2007 recipient of the Project Fit America (PFA), a national nonprofit charity dedicated to improving the health of children.
Sierra Providence Health Network will celebrate its continued partnership with (PFA) in the Fall with kick-off activities and a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially dedicate the new fitness programs implemented at Travis Elementary, which is part of the El Paso Independent School District. Several schools submitted their names for consideration and PFA chose Travis Elementary after a review of all applicants. The equipment will be installed in the summer.
In an effort to improve community wellness, Sierra Providence has been involved with PFA since 1993 and has sponsored 12 schools in the El Paso area. The sponsorship is a turnkey program that provides indoor and outdoor fitness equipment, teacher training, and physical education curriculum support materials to schools on a national level. This donation will impact students, teachers and the community around Travis Elementary.
The ceremonies will held in the Fall and feature a variety of special guest appearances including SP the Diamond, official ambassador of Sierra Providence Health Network. members of the community, school and government officials, and other special guest speakers.
"It is our goal to help deliver quality healthcare and improve the wellness of teens, adults and seniors in our region," said Chief Operating Officer for Providence Memorial Irene Chavez. "As a healthcare provider we see obesity, diabetes and poor physical condition as a major problem in our community. We are proud to support this program, which we believe is an integral part of the solution."
The program, designed by PFA, addresses children’s fitness deficiencies identified through failed fitness tests and provides a big boost to the minutes per week that kids are active. Incorporating the outdoor fitness playground beyond traditional physical education class time, involving recess and lunch as well as before and after school programming, students become much more physically active as part of the every day school experience.
"Physical education and fitness related activities continue to be cut and/or poorly funded, at a time when childhood obesity and related illnesses are at epidemic levels," says PFA's Executive Director, Stacey Cook. "Our children's health is too important to sit idly by, which is why we applaud Sierra Providence Health Network for taking this leadership role bringing PFA programming to the El Paso area for past 14 years."
PFA has established pilot and model schools in more than 500 schools, in over 250 cities in 42 states. The pre-and-post testing data for the two-year program shows improvement in participants' fitness levels. Early in the school year, students are base-line tested on the equipment and then are re-tested in the spring to measure the change in group fitness levels based on the program's use. Pre-and-post testing results reported by participating schools during the 2005-2006 school year show an average increase of 26.9% in upper body strength, 5.8% in abdominal strength and 8.5% in cardiovascular endurance.
ABOUT PROJECT FIT AMERICA
Project Fit America (PFA) is a national nonprofit charity organized for the sole purpose of donating to schools, exemplary cardiovascular health and fitness programming. Formed in July of 1990, PFA has generated over $6,000,000.00 in sponsorships which has resulted in the development of over 500 model schools in over 250 cities in 42 states. The mission of PFA is to create new opportunities for kids to be active, fit and healthy by providing vital resources and support for physical education one school yard at a time. For more information, visit http://www.projectfitamerica.org/.
ABOUT SIERRA PROVIDENCE HEALTH NETWORK
Sierra Providence Health Network, part of Tenet Texas, consists of four hospitals located in El Paso: 351-bed Sierra Medical Center, located at 1625 Medical Center Drive; 508-bed Providence Memorial Hospital, which also houses the 106-bed Children’s Hospital at Providence, located at 2001 N. Oregon; and a 78-bed physical rehabilitation hospital, Sierra Providence Physical Rehabilitation Hospital, located at 1740 Curie. The network is in the process of building a fourth hospital, Sierra Providence Eastside Hospital, a 100-bed acute care facility scheduled to open in 2008.
Sierra Medical Center, Providence Memorial Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Providence are acute care hospitals that offer a broad spectrum of medical and surgical services for adults and children, including cardiac care and rehabilitation, cancer care and support services, women’s services and emergency care. Other network clinical specialties include a dedicated children’s emergency room, kidney transplant, gamma knife radiosurgery, a hospice, a bariatrics center and health care services for chronically ill children. Sierra Providence Physical Rehabilitation Hospital provides a broad spectrum of rehabilitation services and is equipped to handle brain injuries and other serious disorders and is accredited by both the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Sierra Medical Center and Providence Memorial Hospital are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.