Tampa General Hospital and Home Base Partner to Offer a Free Health and Fitness Program

Tampa, FL (Oct. 4, 2021) – Tampa General Hospital and Home Base are teaming up to help Tampa Bay area veterans develop healthy ways to build resiliency against post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. Tampa General Hospital and Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital program, are forming a partnership to create a free health and fitness program. The Home Base Warrior Health & Fitness program will be based at the TGH Fitness Center located on the hospital’s main campus and led by trained fitness specialists.

Home to MacDill Air Force Base and U.S. Special Operations Command, the Tampa Bay region has the 27th largest population of veterans in the country totaling 98,000, according to the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. These veterans and their families, like many around the country, can struggle with battling the invisible wounds of combat, including post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression, substance abuse disorders, family relationship challenges, and other issues.

The partnership to bring the Home Base Warrior Health & Fitness program to Tampa Bay will combine Home Base’s outreach and programing expertise while leveraging TGH’s existing wellness and clinical platform to provide meaningful services to veterans.

“Part of achieving our vision of being the safest and most innovative academic health system in America is to address the root causes of health issues that plague our community, one of those being the challenges veterans face after they transition from serving our country to everyday life,” said John Couris, president and CEO, Tampa General Hospital. “We’re proud to help veterans in the Tampa Bay region by providing the first step in developing a healthy lifestyle and teaching positive ways to manage stress. We are honored to give back to those who’ve given us so much.”

This program is designed to improve health and well-being through supervised physical exercise, education about healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle, along with ways to incorporate stress management with an emphasis on the health benefits of physical activity.

Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness Program participants will receive a 90-day complimentary membership to the TGH Fitness Center, which includes up to three complimentary one-hour training sessions per week. Participants will consult with a TGH Registered Dietitian and take part in a hands-on, step-by-step cooking class. They will also receive unlimited access to virtual and live group fitness classes and can use the TGH Fitness Center app for tracking health metrics, scheduling and more.

Participants in the Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program at Tampa General receive:

• Fitness evaluations and a personally tailored exercise program

• Nutrition and meal planning counseling

• Health education

• Warrior yoga and resiliency training

• 90 days of group training sessions

“Home Base was founded to heal the invisible wounds carried by veterans,” said Armando Hernandez, program director, Home Base SWFL and U.S. Marine veteran. “There is an abundance of information on the mental health benefits of exercise and healthy habits. Participants in our programs in Boston and Southwest Florida have experienced improved physical health and the lessening of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression.”

The program creates an open enrollment that welcomes all veterans regardless of ability or discharge status. Veterans are required to register in order to participate. The TGH Fitness Center is located at 1 Davis Blvd., Tampa. The first cohort began Oct. 4. For more information on future groups, contact Jaime Fernandez at 305-972-9951 or jfernandez7@partners.org, or visit Homebase.org.



ABOUT HOME BASE
Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, is dedicated to healing the invisible wounds for veterans, service members and their families through world-class clinical care, wellness, education and research. As a National Center of Excellence headquartered in Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard, Home Base operates the largest private-sector clinic in the nation devoted to healing invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression, co-occurring substance use disorder, military sexual trauma and family relationship challenges. For more information about Home Base, visit https://homebase.org/.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 1,041-bed non-profit academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region’s only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2021-22 Best Hospitals, and one of the top 4 hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. The academic medical center’s commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious 2021 Forbes magazine rankings – America’s Best Employers by State, third out of 100 Florida companies and first among health care and social organizations and 13th nationally in America’s Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal 2020 provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation’s busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital’s footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health and 19 outpatient Radiology Centers. Tampa Bay residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track. As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.