New Win Health Institute in Basalt integrates approach to one-stop wellness

BASALT A multimillion-dollar facility set to open in June offers the opportunity for a team of doctors and specialists to bridge the gap in the local medical-care industry.And the man behind the grand plan for the Basalt-based integrated health center is Dr. Dave Jensen and his wife, Dee.The couple have poured more than $10 million into the Win Health Institute, located behind the Midvalley Medical Center in Basalt and set to open June 7.The price tag for construction alone on the 33,000-square-foot facility is $8.5 million. Millions more have gone into the land, and the buildings architecture, interior design and state-of-the-art medical equipment.Jensen is funding the majority of the facility with loans and minimal contributions from investors.Im in deep, he said, adding a large investor would want to dictate how the institute operates.We didnt want someone to come in here just for the big money, Jensen said. Doing it ourselves, its closer to the heart, and keeps the vision and integrity.The business plan is unique in that there are several different companies under the umbrella organization of the Win Health Institute. Dozens of business owners and medical practitioners are leasing space in the facility at $35 a square foot. Trainers, instructors and specialists are investing into different areas of the institutes vast offerings of modern medicine.They are independently vested and spiritually connected, Jensen said. I want people to be profitable, I dont need to make money off of them.

Businesses setting up shop include Orthopaedic Associates, Aspen Valley Hospital, and Jensens Mid Valley Chiropractic & Wellness Center, with locations already in Holland Hills and Glenwood Springs.While its been Jensens vision for such a facility for the past 12 years, the timing of the institutes opening is ripe with opportunity as the midvalley has become the epicenter for health care for surrounding communities.Medical offices in Aspen are getting priced out and can no longer afford the high rents, or there simply is no more room for them.The institute was 100 percent leased out well before it was built, signaling the need for more medical offices in the valley.I had many offers from people [in Aspen] who would come here, he said. I could build a whole another one … Ive got first right of refusal on the next two lots.The institutes central location will likely draw people from Grand Junction and Vail, as well. The Jensens believe that because the institute offers more services in one facility than anywhere else in the country.We picked the best of the best for what we wanted here, which is bridging the gap in health care with Eastern and Western medicine, Jensen said. Its old-world medicine with new-world technology.The institutes balanced approached to health care includes a 5,000-square-foot medi-spa that offers massage, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and skin care. There are 14 massage rooms that are decorated as different countries to reflect origins of whatever technique is used Thailand, Sweden and China, for example.The 5,000-square-foot gym is athleticism-based with an emphasis on agility and proprioception (balance and space). The programming focuses on sports rehabilitation, from new injuries to full training. The gym has strength equipment, circuit training and cardio machines. It offers private and group fitness classes, with yoga, tai chi, aerobics and karate in a separate studio with a suspension floor.Theres gyrotonic and pilates machines, as well as physical therapy, personal training, posture analysis and a saltwater pool where patients and other users can swim, run or bike against a current. An underwater camera can capture users motions to help with their rehabilitation.Golfers can fix their swings and improve their game by using the facilitys digital golf course, which offers 250 courses from around the country.Then theres Win Medical, which is a separate entity on another wing of the institute that offers digital X-ray, an MRI machine, ultrasound, spinal decompression, thermography, a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, non-radiation breast mammography, alternative dentistry, diagnostic testing, specialized blood testing, orthopeadic surgeons, a neurometer and a host of other services.Specialists and physicians from around the country will come to the institute at various times during the month to fill the medical services gap in the valley.The institute also has whats called the Doctors Healthcare Cooperative, which includes a retail component offering vitamin supplements and herbal remedies. A kitchen and living area will offer cooking classes at least twice a week with guest chefs preparing healthy food.Jensen, who has worked in the sports medicine field and pro sports, said he realized that the general public is fed up with the current medical model of health care. So he decided to blend the best schools of thought into one facility.This is patient-based care where they can make the decision, he said. This is one-stop wellness, helping people help themselves.The child prodigy center within the facility is funded by the Jensens nonprofit, The W.I.N. Institute, which raises money for education, senior citizen support and a mobile unit for outreach care.There are four short-term, two-bedroom luxury rental condos on the top floor of the institute with health-care concierge services. Four apartments in the facility house key service employees for the institute.People can stay as short as three days or six weeks, depending on what they are doing at the institute, said Dee Jensen, adding pro athletes may come during their offseasons for rehabilitation and others may come to round out their health program.They can come for recreation or health care … we can develop a program for them and send it home with them, said Dee Jensen, who completed her undergraduate in pre-med with focuses on psychology and social welfare.An obstacle course outside of the facility that incorporates the nearby Roaring Fork River will be used by members of Aspen Valley Ski Club and the U.S. Ski Team for dry-land training in agility and plyametrics. The institute also has a 10,000-square-foot astroturf area on the roof of the building.Dee Jensen designed the institute, which reflects its spiritual healing center approach. The lobby is designed to incorporate the atriums of the heart and the five elements of acupuncture: wind, earth, fire, water and wood. The staircase is designed to mimic a spinal cord and chakra colors surround the circular walls. Million-year-old fossils are embedded into rock walls and Tibetan coins that were prayed on for 120 days are buried in the center of the institute.I tried to embed the symbolism and energy, Dee Jensen said.Jensen invites the public to the Win Health Institutes grand opening on June 7, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The institute is located at 1460 East Valley Road.There is no place like this in the entire nation, Jensen said. There are so many people who had the vision but no one had the wherewithal to get it done, Jensen said.csack@aspentimes.comThis article is a feature of Inside Business, published Tuesdays in The Aspen Times.