Proponents ask lawmakers to authorize pilot recognizing medical health and fitness centers as prevention sites

Representative Paul McMurtry and owners/operators from Dedham Health and Athletic Club asked the Joint Committee on Public Health to support House Bill 2364, which would recognize medical health and fitness facilities and establish a pilot program to deliver supervised, evidence‑based exercise as medicine.

Representative Paul McMurtry described the center as “rethinking the delivery of health care” and said integrating exercise physiologists could “save millions of tax dollars.” Lloyd Gainsborough, owner of Dedham Health, told the committee the pilot “launches a pilot program that will save lives and reduce health care costs,” citing fall prevention and chronic disease studies. Lars Lambros described a fall‑prevention study with Hebrew SeniorLife that showed measurable reductions in falls, injuries and hospitalizations and urged the committee to set standards to separate medical fitness facilities from basic gyms.

Committee members thanked proponents for the presentation and noted physicians increasingly “prescribing exercise.” The committee took testimony and did not vote; witnesses asked for standards, pilot details and pathways to integrate payments or referrals from clinical settings.