YMCA, Hospital Offer Joint Memberships

GREENVILLE, SC -- A new joint membership option will enable members of the YMCA of Greenville to use fitness facilities and services offered by the Greenville Hospital System (GHS) University Medical Center beginning May 1.

The new membership option, called Partners Achieving Total Health (PATH), includes access to all four Y branches and two GHS club locations for one fee. Individual PATH memberships cost $65 a month, and family memberships cost $80 a month.

The PATH membership also includes discounted rates for Y-sponsored youth sports and camps, as well as nutritional consultations, massage therapy and other services offered at GHS. Hospital staff also will conduct onsite health screenings for Y members at the four YMCA of Greenville branches.

“The goal of the PATH membership is to provide the community with greater access to the many health and wellness programs and services offered by both the YMCA and GHS and to make exercising more convenient for busy families and professionals,” Scot Baddley, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greenville, told local media.

Club owners in Greenville formed a group in 2003 called the Coalition for Healthy Competition to rally against proposed GHS construction of additional fitness facilities. At that time, the group claimed the local market was already saturated, and that the non-profit hospital was enjoying unfair tax advantages over for-profit clubs.