UPMC Expands Services in Italy, Adds Wellness Center in Tuscany
By: Wendy Zellner
UPMC has expanded its services in Chianciano Terme, Italy, to include a new Medical Exercise and Wellness Center, aimed at preventing a variety of diseases linked to obesity and excess weight. The center offers customized, comprehensive wellness checkups, as well as patient education and tutoring, to residents of Tuscany and visitors to the region.
“Many major diseases worldwide are caused by a sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle, including poor diet, smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol,” said Dr. Bruno Gridelli, executive vice president of UPMC International. “With rising rates of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, diabetes, chronic respiratory disorders and cancer, an increased emphasis on prevention is the only rational way for countries to face the economic and social impact of chronic diseases.”
The Medical Exercise and Wellness Center, part of the UPMC Institute for Health, helps those at risk for these diseases and those already diagnosed with them. Patients first receive a complete diagnostic checkup, typically followed by prescription of evidence-based physical exercise.
“If correctly adopted, exercise is strong medicine that can reduce and even eliminate the risks associated with chronic diseases and brain aging,” Gridelli said.
The new center includes fitness equipment from Technogym, which has equipped more than 65,000 wellness centers and 100,000 homes worldwide. An online technology platform connected with the machines allows patients and clinicians to manage and track their exercise routines. With a culture dedicated to wellness, Technogym is also partnering with the Medical Exercise and Wellness Center to conduct scientific research on how physical activity affects health.
UPMC opened the Institute for Health in Chianciano Terme in 2014, in partnership with the local health service, the Region of Tuscany and Terme di Chianciano, a company that operates and manages historical thermal premises in the region. Adding to UPMC’s successful transplant and cancer treatment services in Palermo and Rome, the institute attracts patients from throughout Italy and beyond with diagnostic screenings, imaging and procedures for a variety of diseases.
UPMC has expanded its services in Chianciano Terme, Italy, to include a new Medical Exercise and Wellness Center, aimed at preventing a variety of diseases linked to obesity and excess weight. The center offers customized, comprehensive wellness checkups, as well as patient education and tutoring, to residents of Tuscany and visitors to the region.
