When Via Cognitive Health executive director Jennifer Pennington spoke before an audience of dignitaries, staffers, media and patients with their families, Thursday morning, she began by telling the stories of four people whom she referred to as Maya, David, Alex and Sarah.
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Maya, Pennington said, found a “lifeline” with Via after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, learning to manage her symptoms with lifestyle changes. “It’s the difference between feeling isolated and finding a community that can lift you up as we face our own battles.”
David, she said, “radiates kindness” despite struggles with cognitive decline, volunteering at Via, almost daily, showing that, “In our darkest moments, kindness becomes a beacon.”
Alex was an avid reader whose “mind is still hungry” after being diagnosed with dementia. He listened to audiobooks, volunteered at his church and was always ready for a spirited debate.
“His brain was his garden, tended with care,” said Pennington. “Cognitive stimulation isn’t about acing tests; it’s about blooming despite adversity.”
Sarah found refuge amid her struggles with vascular dementia in Via’s aerobics classes, where “Alzheimer’s lost its grip, even if only for a few hours a day.”
The adult care center celebrated the opening of its new facility on Lutheran Drive with a ribbon-cutting, a tour of the campus and several presentations—including from Mayor Garnett Johnson and Russell Keen, the incoming president of Augusta University.
“Alzheimer’s and cognitive health are something that we’ve been paying a lot of attention to in the past several years,” said Keen, speaking on behalf of AU and noting the university’s $15 million 2020 investment in transdisciplinary research of inflammation and brain aging. “We will recruit some of the best scientists from all over this world to come right here in Augusta, at Augusta University, to help do the very things that you all are doing.”
Now sitting on the cusp of the Richmond and Columbia County lines, Via Cognitive Health was formerly located at 1901 Central Ave., as the Jud C. Hickey Center for Alzheimer’s Care, where it had operated since 1996.
In 2017, after about six years of fundraising through its annual Music for Memories concerts, the board of directors decided to expand the Central Avenue facility. A campaign to redevelop the center would ensue for years, and included a successful $9 million fundraising effort, a substantial contribution from the Knox Foundation and consulting with similar programs as far as Virginia, Texas and even Canada.
The new facility sits on five acres, and is more than 22,000 square feet. Amenities include a game room, a gym, a commercial kitchen, an art studio, a spa and a salon.
Via’s healthcare program distinguishes itself with its focus on supporting those in the earliest stages of dementia and other cognitive conditions, with a rigorous curriculum that entails physical and mental challenges and arts-related therapies.
“Quite often people get the diagnosis and their or their doctor may say, ‘Well, there’s not really much you can do,’ and so they wait until advanced care is needed,” said Pennington, “We’re all about being proactive with lifestyle choices, and those lifestyle choices can help you tolerate the symptoms as it progresses more, so you have a higher quality of life throughout the entire term.”
Via Cognitive Health is located at 105 Lutheran Dr. in Augusta.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
