Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 23, 1993                   TAG: 9304230317
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

HOSPITAL TO OPEN HEALTH-EDUCATION SITE AT MALL

At least that's what the folks at Montgomery Regional Hospital figured when they planned a location for the hospital's Center for Women's Health Education.

The new center is scheduled to open in the New River Valley Mall in early June.

Gayle Griffin, coordinator of women's health services for the hospital, said the mall was chosen because the hospital wants to attract shoppers to the resource center.

"Where are a lot of women, but at malls," she said. "Lots of people don't want to come to the hospital but they don't mind going to the mall."

The educational resource center will feature information about the various health-care services available to women and their families, not just at Montgomery Regional, but all across the New River Valley.

"There's absolutely nothing in the area like this," she said.

Griffin said the hospital decided to open the center because "in today's world women are making most of the health care decisions for families."

Dr. Margaret Robinson, director of the New River Health District, said the educational resource center will be an excellent addition to the area's health care network.

It's a good service that will supplement the health information services of other agencies, she said.

The center will be staffed full-time by workers from the hospital and coordinated by Judy Tynan, vice president of marketing and public relations at Montgomery Regional. Various specialists will also be available for consultations on physical therapy, nutrition, exercise and AIDS awareness.

Griffin said women's health centers are located in a number of malls on the West Coast. Several Montgomery Regional staff members traveled to California last month to see the education centers first hand.

The women's health education center will be located in the mall next to Walden's books in the former Score Sportswear location. Score moved to another location in the mall.