DEL NORTE — “Wellness” – the word and the concept – has only been around in the United States for about 40 years. A 2010 article in the New York Times actually attributes its introduction to an episode of 60 Minutes when, in 1979, Dan Rather said, “Wellness, now there’s a word you don’t hear very often.” 

Things have clearly changed in the past four decades. Wellness is now not only a very common word in public discourse; it has morphed into a massive industry that is only growing larger and populated with products ranging from supplements to smart watches to 24-hour fitness centers. Wellness has become a very big deal.  

Arlene Harms, CEO of Rio Grande Hospital, came to the concept of wellness in a very unusual yet seemingly inevitable way when, in 2016 while at a meeting of the Colorado Hospital Association, she happened to sit in on a talk by a man named Dan Buettner about places in the world that he called blue zones. 

“He had been commissioned by National Geographic to go to these places where people lived to be over a hundred years old.” 

As she listened to descriptions of the commonalities among these places that, geographically, were thousands of miles apart, she was reminded of similar aspects of life in rural areas and places like Del Norte. 

“The need for family,” she said. “A child being taught about purpose in life and raised by four or five adults. In another place, grandparents and great-grandparents danced and told their grandchildren their legacies. Besides diet and exercise, mindfulness was important. Meditation – a time to rest. And people who had practiced a form of worship together – they actually lived eleven years longer. All of those things just sounded so much like what’s found in a rural community.”   

She immediately started thinking, “How can we teach our people about this?” especially with the growing prevalence of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer present in the community.  

Initially, she thought of a wellness center but then soon transitioned to the idea of a cluster of little temporary cottages. “Places where people could come and stay while maybe they were having a procedure done over a period of time or parents who had a child in the hospital and wanted to be close by,” she said. “And the houses would incorporate all the principles of healthfulness.“ 

Harms took her idea to the hospital board. “I told them we need to move away from just treating the sick and move toward wellness. We have so much chronic disease in the valley – we need to teach people how to not be sick,” she said. 

The board bought into the idea almost immediately.  

Harms brought in people from the University of Colorado and, along with staff and others, held eight-hour sessions discussing how to make this small community of homes imbued with the principles of wellness a reality. “We talked about the environmental part of it, the physical wellness, the whole bit,” she said. And when she felt ready, she took the concept to the town board who loved it, as well. 

“That was on Monday,” she says. “On Thursday, the pandemic hit and the hospital board said no, no. We’re not going to think about this right now. We don’t even know what we’ll look like after this is over.”  

Harms clearly understood the need for a shift in focus but it didn’t stop her from thinking and planning and expanding upon ideas. “I did it because I believe that, in ten years, we’re going to be healthier.” 

Once the pandemic was passed, work on the project resumed and, in July of 2024, the six homes and the Wellness Center were opened to the community for tours and explanations. 

The project, which is increasingly expansive and holistic, is guided by four basic principles: diet, exercise, community and mindfulness encapsulated in the overriding vision: “empowered health and inspired lives.” 

On the grounds of Rio Grande Hospital, there is a cluster of six short term cottages – four decorated and furnished to reflect principles from each of the four different countries around the globe with communities focused on healthfulness -  Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikara, Greece and Costa Rica – and two cottages that reflect the geography and landscapes of the valley.   

She points to the example of the cottage that mirrors the community in Costa Rica. “Grandparents are such a key part of life there so there’s information in the cottage about the importance of relationships.” Harms then pauses for a moment. “It is so great to see all of this come to fruition.” 

The same philosophy is at the heart of the Wellness Center. People are encouraged to walk outside for exercise, as that is where the greatest benefit can be found, and the creation of trails is one of their long-term plans. 

But, for those who would prefer to stay inside or those times when the weather is too cold, there is an exercise room, equipped with Nordic equipment and exercise modules loaded on to screens with changing landscapes where a person can imagine working out.  There is a space dedicated to mindfulness and meditation with benches for sitting quietly and massage chairs, and a kitchen where cooking classes are offered to staff and community members using ingredients like (edible) lavender. There are also spacious and beautifully decorated rooms for meetings, receptions, family reunions and other functions. 

“When building the wellness center, we found a lot of scientific research about healing gardens and the benefit of being outdoors,” she said. As a result, one of Harms’ most favorite additions is a 32-foot, solar powered growing dome where, next year, fresh, organic vegetables and spices will be grown and made available to staff and members of the community.  

“Right now, we have winter vegetables – broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, Brussel sprouts, all coming here in about 3 weeks. We’ll give that away to employees and people who are staying in the tiny houses or people from the community who want to come here for food.” 

People are also encouraged to go into the dome and just sit and soak up the warmth. It can be quite healing, she says. 

Harms’ plans are numerous and her vision for what can be done without limit, but she is also committed to measuring the impact of these new practices on people’s health. In the near future, they will begin collecting data at three-month intervals on people with longer-term studies planned to begin in the next year or two. 

“We want to be the beacon of wellness,” she says. “It’s happening slowly but we’re probably the first in Colorado building this for the community that doesn’t bring in any revenue. We’re probably about ten years early but we’re doing it. We’re getting it done.”