Athens/Limestone Co. Offers Residents Top-Tier Care
Athens-Limestone Hospital’s, Surgery Tower and Wellness Center highlight top health assets.
Residents of Limestone County have access to top-notch health care, state-of-the-art surgical facilities and convenient preventive care.
The 71-bed Athens-Limestone Hospital (ALH) continues to grow and now has more than 700 employees and 150 physicians. The full-service hospital on West Market Street offers dozens of services, including an emergency department, long-term acute care, oncology, obstetrics and gynecology, sports medicine, sleep medicine, ambulance service and addiction withdrawal care.
The hospital is an affiliate of the Huntsville Hospital Health System, the nation’s third-largest publicly owned hospital system, and offers educational outreach, such as diabetes education and childbirth classes.
ALH’s new more than $25 million state-of-the-art outpatient surgery tower on Highway 72 East is the first of its kind in Alabama and includes four spacious, fully equipped operating suites that have the potential for expansion into an additional four suites with overnight stay options in the future. Hospital officials say the surgery tower has the highest level of technology for arthroscopy and sports medicine in the Tennessee Valley. The facility’s patient-friendly design has been a hit, and it all begins with soothing music as a patient enters.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has named ALH a “Tier 1 Hospital,†which offers recognition for having the highest level of compliance in the areas of quality, awareness, patient safety and financial awareness. ALH also received an impressive 4-Star Rating from Medicare, which ranks hospitals based on numerous criteria.
Among other recognitions, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama designated ALH a Blue Distinction Center for knee and hip replacement and maternity care, and ALH is ranked among the Top 10 Best Hospitals in Alabama by HealthGrove. Other recent awards include a Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty, a recognition program that honors and celebrates direct care nurses, nursing faculty and nursing students.
Making Wellness Easy
The Athens-Limestone Hospital Wellness Center is positioned on the ALH campus – a strategy that reinforces the hospital’s focus on wellness and makes it easier for staff, patients and other residents of the community to exercise and stay healthy. With a motto “Discover the difference in fitness,†the Wellness Center has been serving Limestone County and surrounding areas since 1999 and is open to the public with 24-hour access.
One of the most popular features at the 30,000-square-foot Fitness Center is a 75-foot heated swimming pool for water therapy, water aerobics, independent swimming and exercise. There’s also a cycling room, an aerobics room, an indoor walking track, a physical therapy center and full shower and changing facilities.
Other amenities include a lap pool, a whirlpool, a dry sauna, a large selection of cardiovascular and strength equipment, and a free weights area. There are also services and programs for all ages, such as swimming lessons for adults and children, nutritional counseling, personal training, massage therapy, group fitness classes and play care services for children.
Members can obtain a health risk assessment that provides a current picture of an individual’s health statistics and allows personal, confidential screening for health risks while facilitating personalized, self-directed diet and fitness programs. Since the Wellness Center is a part of the hospital, staff can help answer health-related questions, provide additional education and resources and also provide needed referrals.
Membership to ALH Wellness Center includes full access to facilities and classes at all eight of Huntsville Hospital Wellness Center locations throughout the region.
If you’d like to learn more about the Athens/Limestone County area, check out the latest edition of Livability Athens/Limestone County, AL.