Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare permanently shut down its LifeStyleRx fitness center in Livermore earlier this month after 17 years, citing financial impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The doors of the fitness center located at 1119 E. Stanley Blvd. officially closed on April 10, but the health care provider said in a statement that it plans to use the space to expand other services.

"We intend to repurpose this space to continue to bring high-value medical services to our community and support growing patient volumes in a number of clinical service lines, such as orthopedics, spine, and GI services," they said.

The rehabilitation and physical therapy services housed in the LifeStyleRx building will continue, including occupation and speech therapy, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.

Employees affected by the closure were notified five days in advance and were provided 30-days paid working notice as well as the option to continue pay and for benefit eligible employees the option to continue medical, and vision benefits, according to the statement. Some LifeStyleRx employees were relocated to different departments of Stanford-ValleyCare, others were provided a list of open positions within the Stanford Health Care system that they could potentially apply for.

More changes could be in store for the entire Livermore campus in the future as the facility aims to develop a broader strategic plan to assess how all of its resources can be best utilized.

The Livermore campus currently offers diagnostic imaging, a laboratory, an outpatient surgery -- ambulatory surgery center, a gastroenterology lab, an urgent care, pharmacy, cardiac rehabilitation, sports medicine, pulmonary rehabilitation, a sleep center, medical offices, food and nutrition services, staff development and education center, digital solutions, telecommunications, health information management, government and community relations and space provided to Open Heart Kitchen and Spectrum/Meals on Wheels, among other services.

The LifeStyleRx gym had already been closed for the past year in accordance with statewide orders, but before the pandemic finally took its toll financially, the 70,000-square-foot wellness center had been transformed into a COVID-19 testing site, a weigh station for personal protective equipment and a free day care center for employees.

"While we will deeply miss the community bonds and friendships that were fostered at LifeStyleRx, we look forward to continuing to partner with the Livermore community as we seek to deliver safe, high-quality and excellent care to our communities now and into the future," Stanford-ValleyCare officials said.