Reflections…
    By Bob Wright, M.A.T.
    Hilton Head Health Director of Lifestyle Education

I started working at Hilton Head Health in 1981; five years after Dr. Peter Miller started the program.  (Back then we were known as the Sea Pines Behavioral Institute.)  It’s easy for me to remember how long I’ve been here because my daughter Betsy, who is now almost 25 and in optometry school, was just two weeks old when I started!  Throughout those many years we’ve helped thousands of people learn to live a healthy lifestyle.

There are only a few folks left from the early days, though, like  Dot and Michele.  Things change, people come and go, but the message remains the same.  In 1996, John Schmitz purchased Hilton Head Health and, in the time since, has been not only president and owner but someone who, quite possibly more than anyone else here, truly practices what we preach.

Other changes have occurred over the years.  One of the most significant is with the facility itself.  Initially we occupied a small building; the lecture hall and exercise room were one and the same.  When a seminar was over, we folded up the chairs, turned on the boom box, and I taught an aerobic dance class.  (Yes, I taught aerobics.  Fortunately, back then nobody knew what it was supposed to be like and didn’t realize how bad the class really was!)

A few years later we moved from Sea Pines to Shipyard plantation.  We had a new building and a new name as well: the Hilton Head Health Institute.  As time went on the program expanded and the number of guests increased.  When the opportunity came to move into the conference center next door, we jumped at the chance.  And that structure, which we’ve come to know and love despite its occasional shortcomings, remains the Institute’s home to this day.
As many of you have witnessed, we’ve gradually improved the facility over time.  Everything from adding the latest exercise gear to remodeling the dining room has been on the schedule.  And as you’ll see on your next visit, a recent major renovation and serious investment in new fitness equipment has made the Institute even more inviting with a state-of-the-art exercise facility.

The healthy lifestyle program has developed significantly as well.  In the beginning, we were only able to offer a couple of daily seminars along with a few exercise classes.  Our current program includes six seminars and dozens of exercise options every day.  Not to mention the ambitious schedule of specialty weeks that allow returning guests to address specific health issues in a more in-depth and concentrated way.

As a result, we’re getting more recognition than ever before.  Being named the #4 spa in the world by Travel+Leisure magazine is our most recent accolade, and one we’re very proud of.  What hasn’t changed is that we continue to attract the best guests in the world who become more than just customers, but a part of the H3I family.  And while the Institute’s gotten bigger and better, our goal and philosophy remains the same: to provide the best weight management and healthy lifestyle program available, now and in the future