After nearly 30 years of leadership, Brad Roy, Ph.D., is set to retire from his role as executive director of the Logan Health Medical Fitness Center. Since the facility’s opening, Brad has played a key role in transforming it from a vision into an essential part of the community. His dedication and guidance have helped the fitness center grow and serve the health and wellness needs of the Flathead Valley.
Back in 1995, Brad had worked for 13 years at the Oregon Heart Center in Eugene, where he started their cardiopulmonary exercise testing lab. At the time, he was looking for a change in scenery for his family. He happened to see an advertisement for the director position for a new medical fitness center in Montana. “I remember thinking, who would want to move to Montana? It’s the end of the world,” he laughed. On a whim, he decided to call to learn more about the job. He spoke with Loring Brock, MD, a semi-retired cardiologist in the area and one of the country’s leading trailblazers in cardiac rehabilitation. Dr. Brock, then serving as the director of the Health Promotion Center, shared the ambitious vision for the new fitness center. Encouraged by their conversation, Brad applied, secured the job and moved his family to Kalispell.
The fitness center had been a vision of CEO Bill Diers and Second Wind Manager Don Author, who aimed to create a large, athletic club with a health and wellness focus. At the time, the existing Second Wind facility was a small, outdated gym located where the modern-day tennis courts now stand. Diers and other hospital leaders wanted to build a premier fitness center that would centralize wellness and fitness services that were scattered across the hospital campus. Modeled after some of the country’s finest fitness centers — namely the Rochester Athletic Club in Minnesota — The Summit: The Community Center for Health and Fitness opened its doors in January 1996.
In January 1996, the Flathead Valley had less than 70,000 people and a fitness and wellness center of this magnitude was rare in cities — let alone small towns. “It was kind of like the Taj Mahal,” Brad recalled. “When we had an open house for the community, it caused a traffic jam on highway 93. Everybody wanted to see this building.” The Summit quickly became a central hub for the community, housing cardiopulmonary rehab, physical and occupational therapy and health and wellness classes for all ages.
One of Brad’s early executive decisions as director was to relocate the cardiopulmonary rehab program from a clinic in the back of the fitness center to the gym floor itself. Brad’s philosophy was that patients going through rehab should get an idea of what the gym setting is like to encourage them to keep up with their routines after their appointments were completed. Today, the program continues to operate in a designated section on the second floor, offering patients a unique transition to a lifelong fitness routine.
Brad has consistently worked to advance the capabilities of the fitness center. In the early 2000s, he collaborated with Dr. Jack Davis, a hospital cardiologist, to participate in a national multicenter study on heart failure patients, sponsored by Duke University. At the time, industry guidelines did not widely recommend exercise for heart failure patients, but Brad and experts across the country sought to develop safe, effective exercise plans tailored to their needs. “We were one of 63 sites chosen, and the only non-academic site,” Brad said. “It had to do with our facility and cardiopulmonary exercise testing capabilities. We were pushing the boundaries.” The five-year study ultimately showed the benefits of exercise for heart failure patients, though Brad knew it would take additional time for the Center for Medicaid Services (CMS) to approve cardiac rehabilitation enrollment and reimbursement for these patients. Determined to bridge the gap, he secured a state grant to continue providing care until CMS caught up.
Throughout his tenure, Brad sought innovative solutions to improve wellness offerings. Noticing the need for separate programs for various chronic health conditions, he realized they all shared the same foundational elements—exercise, diet, stress management, social interactions and restorative sleep. With this in mind, he and Cathy Lisowski, M.S., the then manager of the cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation program, developed the Journey to Wellness program. This holistic, individualized wellbeing coaching initiative worked to empower participants to achieve their health goals with comprehensive support.
Growth remained a key theme for the facility over the years. In October 1999, Brad and his team took a bold step to expand memberships by waiving the registration fee for the first time. “We wanted to get our numbers up, and within a month, we sold 822 new memberships,” he recalled. Today, the Logan Health Medical Fitness Center has over 4,400 accounts for approximately 9,000 individual members. In addition, advancements to the facility have been abundant. Additional spacing was added to the upper floor of the facility, allowing for a designated cardiopulmonary rehab area within the workout floor. A private tennis facility was built in about 2010, which the fitness center later took over as its own. A turf fitness area was added to help launch Competitive Edge, the facility’s training program, and a larger space for cardiopulmonary exercise testing and gait analysis was later added, as well.
Beyond the facility’s growth, Brad takes pride in the community engagement efforts the facility was able to facilitate. Over the years, influential guest speakers have stopped by the fitness center, including NBA Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal and Phil Jackson, three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, Boston Marathon champion Bill Rodgers and creative walking expert Rob Sweetgall. These events provided inspiration and motivation to countless community members.
Reflecting on his career, Brad says the most rewarding aspect has been the relationships he has built with staff and members. “I’m proud of all the staff we’ve had here,” he said. “We’ve had an exceptional team and wonderful members. It’s been amazing to see people make significant, positive changes to their lives.”
Brad also has served as a leader in the industry. For the past nine years, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Journal. His involvement in health studies, contributions to wellness coaching and commitment to providing the Flathead Valley with offerings that many large cities don’t even have made him a valuable mentor to many in the industry and those who have worked with him.
However, for Brad, mentorship has always been about giving back. He credits much of his success to the guidance he received throughout his career. He cites his high school track coach, Jim Crakes; Dr. John Boyer, a cardiologist and graduate school professor; Dr. Lynn Christie, a colleague at the Oregon Heart Center; Barry Franklin of the American College of Sports Medicine; and Velinda Stevens, the former CEO of the hospital, and Jim Oliverson as key mentors who helped shape his career and life. “You are only as successful as the people you surround yourself with,” Brad said. “There have been so many people who helped me along the way, and the ongoing desire to be that type of person for others.”
As he prepares to step away from his role, Brad is not saying goodbye to the community he loves. Having spent nearly 30 years in the Flathead Valley and raising his family here, he plans to remain active at the fitness center and continue contributing to the community in meaningful ways. His impact on the Logan Health Medical Fitness Center and the countless lives he has touched will remain a lasting legacy.