Wellness Center Added to Chicago Center (ZAU)

Approximately a month ago, PASS members and all employees at the Chicago Center (ZAU) working to keep the National Airspace System (NAS) safe every day excitedly welcomed the addition of a wellness center to their facility.

Anthony Gonke, Chapter IL3, was the driving force for PASS and is the current president of the association for the wellness center. Fellow Chapter IL3 member Jerry Walosyzk, who also works at ZAU, was especially appreciative of the steps taken by Gonke to get the center up and running.  “Without his efforts keeping everyone motivated, the possibility of adding a wellness center to the facility may never have happened,” said Walosyzk.

However, PASS members were not the only ones who spearheaded the effort. With an opportunity to add workout equipment to help maintain an active lifestyle and serve as an outlet after long days of hard work, everyone appeared to jump onboard with the idea. “It was a total collaborative effort, including PASS, NATCA and management from both Tech Ops and Air Traffic,” added Waloszyk.

Approximately 215 people have already joined the wellness center as active members, but it is anticipated that membership will continue to increase. “There is a lot of excitement about this and it has really changed the morale of the whole facility, both on the Tech Ops side as well as Air Traffic,” expressed Waloszyk.

“The gym has also allowed for Tech Ops and Air Traffic to get to know each other a little better outside the control room and I believe it has helped to build better relationships with each other,” agreed Gonke.

On a similar note, Waloszyk is taking a page out of Gonke’s book and is trying to make even further improvements at ZAU. For his next project at the facility, he is currently collaborating to get Electric Vehicle charging stations to keep up with the initiative for a greener facility.

Explore the wellness center website, created by PASS member Vance Vongphakdy, at http://www.zauwellness.com. It has been a truly collaborative effort from start to finish by the PASS team at ZAU and everyone else involved in the creation of the wellness center. Enjoy the results of this healthy and productive collaboration!

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