About Us: Our History

In 1979, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center became the first hospital in Southern New Jersey to develop and offer a wellness program to its employees and the community. The goal of the program was to help people become more aware of the choices that they could make to improve their lifestyle. The commitment of Lourdes to a wellness lifestyle was an extension of its general education philosophy. The most unique aspect of Lourdes' Wellness Program is the emphasis on the spirituality component of wellness. The initial year of the program was devoted to the employee population. Following this, programs were then offered to the community-at-large. Within the first few years of operation programs such as Nutrition, Stress Management and Wholistic Health workshops were offered, as well as Human Wholeness Retreats and Prenatal Classes. In 1986, the Wellness Center expanded its offerings to include massage with other wholistic modalities.

Since inception, Lourdes Wellness Center has continued to increase the number of program offerings, as well as the number of participants. In 1993, the Lourdes Institute of Wholistic Studies began offering certification classes. In 1997, Lourdes Wellness Center opened The Little Portion of Lourdes Wellness Center, a satellite healthy living center housing massage services and The Spirituality Center. In 2009, the Wellness Center celebrated its 30th anniversary. Over the years, Lourdes Wellness Center has continued to carry out the mission of the medical center and reach thousands of people each year with various wellness offerings. Programs range from infant massage, through the adolescent program, to the 50 Plus club and beyond.