■ In a region with an obesity rate of 37 percent, Thibodaux (La.) Regional Medical Center is putting the finishing touches on a $63 million, 230,000 square foot wellness and health education facility. The building, scheduled to open in early 2015, is being built across the road from the 185-bed regional hospital. The facility is needed, hospital officials note, in order to help prevent disease at a time when area residents are experiencing obesity, heart disease and diabetes rates above the national average. The facility will have a therapeutic pool and a lap pool, an education center focusing on diabetes, nutrition and weight management, and fitness facilities. Also in the building will be an imaging center, an orthopedic and sports medicine center, a neurosciences center, cardiac rehabilitation, and physical, occupational and speech therapy. Other areas will focus on pain, spinal health, urgent care and women’s breast health. Thibodaux is a city of about 15,000 people some 50 miles west of New Orleans.
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