Health system officials with Valley Health have said they’re dropping fitness services from their Berkeley Springs physical therapy facility, and two other facilities in their system, in an effort to save money.
Physical therapy and rehabilitation services will still be offered at Berkeley Springs in the Valley Road facility, said Valley Health.
“Like fitness facilities nationwide, Valley Health’s fitness programs experienced a decline in membership during the pandemic and never rebounded. As a result, we made the difficult decision to end our fitness membership programs in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., Front Royal, Va., and Woodstock, Va., effective Wednesday, February 1, 2023,” said Valley Health in a press release.
“We regret the disruption this decision will create for community members, whose fitness commitment and ongoing health are important to us,” the press release said. “In our assessment, we carefully evaluated each program’ s unique operational situation, including finances, building lease contracts and the availability of local fitness facility alternatives within the community.”
Several members of the fitness center said they received little notice about the closure, some after they had renewed their memberships. They said fitness staff also appeared to be surprised by the announcement.