Interchange Medical Wellness Center

I don’t understand why they still use the name Interchange Medical Wellness Center since all the signage on the windows indicate a different name. IMWC was a fantastic facility before the new proprietors took over two years ago. You can feel the lack of enthusiasm from the staff, although there has been a complete turnover the last I heard. This is one place where attitudes trickle down from the top. No thanks, I’ll take a pass.

This used to a great place for group fitness classes and personal training. But then they got rid of the classes and exercise equipment, and tuned this place into a chiropractor/​acupuncture office only. What a shame!

I made an appointment for a massage but when I arrived at the front desk I was told the masseur had to cancel. I understand that things may come up but they didn’t even seem to care about the inconvenience I went through to get to the location by train. They never tried to offer another person to take care of me, nor did they try to reschedule for another time. I have been to this location 3 other times and things went fine. I was surprised that they never even asked to reschedule or give me a discount on the next massage for my inconvenience, but either way, I will not be returning to this location.
If you are looking for a spa this is not the location. You change in the same room you get the massage in. For some people that is an issue… not really for me, but I thought I would let you all know anyway so you can make a better decision if that’s not what you are looking for.

My husband and I just got acupuncture for the first time here. The building is very clean, the décor is is simple and welcoming. There were two girls at the front desk, one was brunette and she said she was new. She was very nice. The other was blonde, her name was Kristina I believe, she was mildly annoying because she kept talking o the other girl like she was dumb. I think the new girl was kind of annoyed with her too but i don’t know.
The doctor who did my acupuncture was named Patricia and she was amazing. she asked me about where I had pain and a little about my life. She explained the procedure and made me feel very comfortable with everything. When she put the needles in I hardly felt anything. She turned the lights off and put some relaxing music on and let me relax for twenty minutes. I can def say that I felt relaxed when I left. My pain had lessened, but not extremely. I think I will go back again to see if it helps after a few sessions. Hell, I may go back just for the twenty minute nap I can’t get at home with my kids. My husband had Dr. Amanda and he said he enjoyed his experience as well.
I would recommend this place to anyone. The staff is professional and friendly. I enjoyed myself.

Interchange has been disappointing me lately. They have been canceling a lot of classes lately, especially the Zumba classes. They even cancelled all of their Sunday group exercise sessions. I hope they get their act together soon. It is only a matter of time before their regulars move to another gym, I am definitely looking for another place when I am done with my pre paid group exercise classes. Very disappointing Interchange!!!

Dr. «Patty» aka «Z» Zemaitis and this place are a God-​sent! I cannot praise her and this Center enough. They literally have changed my life!
After going to five different doctors and specialists who could not figure out what was wrong with me, I was referred to Dr. Patty, who took the time to listen, re-​run tests, and administer new tests I was not even aware of and figured it out! After almost three months of constant health issues, she had the solution and I am finally feeling better.
Even though she is listed under «chiropractic» on the website she does SO much more and is well-​versed in so many different, natural, and holistic treatments from acupuncture to herbal treatments. I love that she will work with you and try to stay away from meds as much as is possible. I had never done acupuncture before, but I am now a HUGE believer having seen how my health situation has changed from Day 1 of being on this treatment path. She is HILARIOUS and always accessible via email if things come up between appointments. She is also a great educator and explains ever thing so clearly. She has basically given me my very own «user’s manual» to my body and a lot of things I have just «lived with» now make sense and I know how to counteract them. I not only feel better but I feel empowered in the sense that I know what to do to avoid/​fix issues.
The massage therapists are AWESOME, too! So far I have had the pleasure to meet Gabi and Anne/​Anna (?). Gabi is incredible. She is like a wave of power all over your body. I was so relaxed during our sessions that I fell asleep on the table, snoring, hahaha. I love her. Anne/​Anna is more of a precision knot laser/​ninja. While I wanted to cry and beg for mercy as she working on those knots in my shoulders, I feel great!
The thing that totally blew me away was the fact that Dr. Z takes insurance which has made all my weekly appointment SO cheap. I have to pinch myself every time I see my monthly invoice because it is SO little compared to any doctor’s visit I have ever had.
So, if you have been dealing with health issues that no one can diagnose or has taken the time to figure out, or if you are tired of dealing with health issues you have just gotten used to «live with,» or if you know that your body is «off» somehow or want to just simply know how your body functions, you must give Dr. «Z» and the guys at Interchange a try!

I’ve had a few massages in my relatively short life and this was one of the best. Dieandra (sp?) was excellent! She listened to what I wanted to concentrate on during the session and really tailored the experience to what my body needed (and it needed a lot!) and the massage did not feel like a generic routine for her. I definitely plan on coming back to see her in the future!

love kettlebell at this place with Kathy, also love the power HIT class on Sat AM
if you want your butt kicked come to these classes
however they must have gotten quite popular over the past couple of weeks, there seems to be a waiting list for these classes every time
and if u want spin class, forget it, sign up like 2 weeks ahead of time otherwise you get wait listed.
thats probably the only downside. oh and parking… seriously 4 bucks to park on the street for an hour?! wish they had a lot we could use
love the workouts here for sure!

Shake that booty! Or, if you’ve come to the fitness classes here, you may not be able to shake anything because you’ve been working out so much.
I really like their fitness classes. Is it the biggest space? Not at all. Is it the most high tech place? Not a chance. Is all of the equipment the best? Hmm, not really. Is there a good shower room? Yep, not at all. I go home to shower.
BUT, I like this place! They work you and they work you hard. I started here on a discount deal and haven’t left yet. Plus, every once in awhile they offer a great deal internally which I’ve definitely taken advantage of.
To wrap this up, my booty is looking fine!

Oh lordie… so I shouldve known there was going to be problems when I tried to make an appointment online and it didnt work. That site is a disaster… just call, but then thats a bit of a disaster too. I was placed on hold for 10mins, hung up and called back. It then took about 20 mins on the phone to make the apptmt. I guess they were experiencing problems with their software… which was annoying. I could tell that the woman on the phone was frustrated…
So I finally got the apptmt made… YAYYAYAYAAYA!
Parking…its street parking… BOO but there is some free spots right out front just be careful of the tow zones between 7−9AM and 4−6PM. Other than that metered spaces that is pretty easy.
Space…well its kind of a ‘gym’ type atmosphere gone spa-ish…The room for the facial was pretty standard… no heating pad but everything else was there. There was relaxing music playing, etc. However, you can hear people working out outside of the room so its not 100% ambiance, but its also not that bad
Facial…it was good. I had a gift certificate from a previous spa event that I had went to for $ 75. I received the vitamin c facial. I got there at 330. Filled out paperwork til 335 went back to room, changed, etc and Renee talked to me about my face… not sure of the time now. We did the facial and was ready to get dressed at 425. Its supposed to be a 50 min treatment, which I am pretty sure it was not. Now, I didnt pay anything bc the gc covered the cost so I cant complain. However, if I had paid for the treatment, I would be disappointed in the less than 50 mins for $ 75. Renee was helpful and not pushy. Her technique was pretty standard… nothing special. She gave suggestions for my face post and didnt push product, which is nice.
I liked the facial… didnt love it enough to go back.

I feel better than I have in a very long time and I owe much of that to Sergio, Dr. Amanda, and Bill’s remarkable hands.
In 1985 I broke my hip. I was 8 years old. Luckily my doctors were able to repair the break and after 6 months in a body cast and multiple surgeries I was up and walking again by 1986. Needless to say my back has been a mess ever since.
I have been in and out of chiropractic care for at least the last ten years. Some with massage, some without. Thanks to groupon, I made it into Interchange.
My first two massages were with Renee. She was good, but wasn’t really getting at the deep tissue spots that needed work. I asked the receptionist who the strongest massage therapist was and that I wanted to book with them. She told me his name is Bill and he books out a month in advance. I was willing to wait, and it was the best thing I ever did.
Bill has what I call «magic hands» that somehow know exactly where the flare ups are in the muscle. By far he has the strongest hands of any massage therapist that has ever worked on me, and I’ve had well over 50 therapists in the last 20 years.
I made an appointment with the chiropractor, Dr. Amanda. She is awesome. In all the years of chiropractic care I’ve had, Dr. Amanda is one of very few who actually took into account what I was saying. She took the time to really get to the heart of, and understand the problem (my hip) rather than just throwing me on a table pushing on my back here and there and determining that the current issue was caused by something else, somewhere else. After a full exam and listening to Bill’s assessment of the issues with my hip, leg, and back, Dr. Amanda prescribed a regiment of physical therapy with Sergio and massage therapy with Bill. She LISTENS to her patients. Pretty amazing stuff this day in age.
I started working on the flexibility issues with Sergio who is a total professional. He seems to know just where the exact point is when there’s no more stretch to give. He is balanced in his techniques and varies the routines that we do regularly. The best part about working with Sergio is that in addition to his strong knowledge base of the body, he knows his movies and pop culture. No matter how much a particular stretch hurts (it’s the good hurt, nothing that’s easy does any good) he can distract you enough so that you can push through to the next level.
Bill’s massages are the deepest deep tissue massages I have ever had. He somehow hits trigger points that other therapists either glossed over or didn’t know were there. It’s like he has sonar and can just see the knots with his eyes. The strength in his hands in unmatched. I know that he wants to be a therapist for a professional sports team and work on athletes, but selfishly I hope it never happens because what about me? Seriously I can’t say enough about how awesome this guy is at what he does.
I want to be clear; I have not had a relaxation massage from Bill. He has only performed therapeutic massage focusing specifically on problem areas. If relaxation is what you’re looking for, you don’t need the powerhouse that are Bill’s hands.
In the last 2 months since I started going to Interchange on a regular basis I have noticed decreased pain throughout my back, neck, and shoulders. I am stronger in my core and can tell the difference in the way that my body moves as I walk. Much of the pain I was having were a direct result of the tightness of muscles nowhere near the location of the pain. For as crazy as that may sound, I believe the body is a whole system, not just individual parts.
I feel better than I have in a very long time and I owe much of that to Sergio, Dr. Amanda, and Bill’s remarkable hands.

I attended the Capoeira class today and it was AWESOME! The instructor was great, he took his time showing us the moves, explaining the steps and what part of the body we were working while moving. The staff and other class goers were all very warm and friendly.
I did have some trouble finding the location at first it gets lost being next to Trader Joe’s and all the traffic but it was so worth the confusion. The facilities were great and almost spa like. I would definitely recommend this place to friends & family.

Interchange takes a really comprehensive approach to wellness and does it in a way that isn’t pushy with their services. I went in for mid-​back issues and was pleased with the therapy and chiropractic services and absolutely impressed with the massage therapy provided by a practitioner named Rene (book in advance, the word is out about her!).
They remembered me each time I came in and I never felt like «just’ a customer. They also do due diligence on taking notes about your condition and each time you come in to see someone new you see them reading your file and then addressing the specific issues during the treatment. A really nice change of pace from places that just ask a few basic questions and provide standard treatments.
Oh — they also were super helpful in working with my insurance to get the treatments covered.

Bought a Groupon for three massages. Went on vacation to Chicago and got to use two while I was there. Everything went well from the time I called to schedule the appointments till the time I finished my second massage. Terry did both of my massages and did a great job. I had stiffness in my neck, shoulder and back and he found it and worked it out. He explained what he found and what he was working on during the massages and after. He also gave me recommendations of what to do as far as maintenance. The staff was great and friendly. Will do it again. Also, the office is above a Trader Joe’s.

I made an appointment yesterday for a Groupon I purchased for 3 massages. My massage therapist was Samuel and he was very professional and knowledgeable. I’ve always gotten massages from women so I was a little concerned at first, but he was very professional and didn’t make me uncomfortable at all. The massage was amazing, better than a lot of spa places. Other places might just go through the motions and seem like they’re just waiting for the hour to be up, but the massage I received here was very relaxing and he targeted the muscles that were tense. He also gave me some tips to help my tense muscles afterwards!
The only reason I wouldn’t give 5 stars is the same reason many others have said. I could definitely hear the shouting and music from the classes going on, but I think they’ve got a CD player in the massage room now in an attempt to drown out the noise. The room was really chilly too… I’m assuming they have the AC on pretty high because of all the people working out.

This place is a lovely space, great location, with a friendly staff. So why the 3 star review? I have a love/​hate relationship with their Zumba classes.
The Zumba classes are fun, a great workout, and taught be great instructors. But the space is too damn small for the number of people they put in it. You need a lot of room to do Zumba, and this is a small awkward space that they fill with people. I understand they have a great class with a high demand, but jamming the room with people makes it less fun, less of a workout, and less appealing.

Bottom Line — I am a fan of Interchange Medical Wellness. Let me count the ways. :-)
VISUALLY — I am a visual person, so it was important for me to visit the center before booking an appointment. Upon walking in, I was immediately impressed. The space has been nicely appointed with a minimalist eye and immediately lends itself to a calming atmosphere.
THE FRONT DESK — I love the people at the front desk. No matter who I get at the front desk, I am always greeted with a warm reception and they are always eager to be of assistance. That is my first impression and it never fails me.
CHIROPRACTIC CARE — I have been seeing Dr. Patricia Zemaitis for chiropractic care over the past several months. I initially went in for migraines. I appreciate that she is well-​read and does a great job of balancing traditional chiropractic care and new-​age chiropractic care. Her approach is whollistic and she a sincere overall concern for your well-​being.
MASSAGES — I have seen both Bill Underwood and Renee and they are both great! :-) When booking an appointment, you may have to book a few weeks in advance — these two are always in high demand. Bill offers a great deep tissue massage. If you need deep tissue, you must see Bill. Renee is equally as great and she offers a combination massage and facial. I had this package with Renee and the facial was perfection. My skin was amazing for days to come.
TIMING OF MASSAGES — If you are coming for a «SPA DAY» or Utilizing a coupon from «GROUPON», please, please, please ask them to book your massage around a time that will maximize your relaxtion. If seeking relaxation, I would not recommend coming in during the busiest time of the day for a massage. I typically come in for deep-​tissue and muscle relaxation with Bill and Renee and noise levels have never been a concern — but I can not speak for everyone.
PILATES — I had never taken pilates before, so having one on one sessions with Steve and Kathy was a great introduction. With patience, I watched my body grow in strength. As opposed to pilates classes in the gym, this instruction is led with a mix of the equipment and the mat work. If you’ve never utilized the equipment, you should at least try it once — it’ll give you a glimpse of what your body should be able to do on the mat. Steve is into traditional STOTT Pilates and prides himself on teaching you about the process. If you are looking to learn and grow, Steve is a great option. Kathy is also great. I saw her when I first started attending pilates. She has a balanced tone and really listens to you as you move through the session. They both offer Single or Group Instruction.
AMENITIES — They provide water. There are also showers, towels, and a flat panel television in the women’s bathroom. (Can’t speak on the view inside the men’s bathroom). The bathrooms are clean and pleasant. (So Important!)
OTHER CLASSES — I have not attended their group exercise classes. I am considering joining the «Walk to Run» club with Bill Underwood that will meet on Saturday Mornings at 7:30am. Currently, he has a running club that meets on Friday evenings.
Interchange Medical Wellness does an excellent job of balancing the many aspects that can affect the «Wellness» of their clients. While they are not a spa, they do offer spa-​like benefits without the spa-​like pricing. And as a bonus, you’ll find that everyone in there is a semi fitness nut and has some information about something fitness related. Ask a question and you’ll be surprised at the wealth of knowledge you might get from anyone in there. :-)

I’m sure this place is fabulous for its exercises classes, but I wouldn’t be running there for any spa services. That is assuming you want to relax, and ahem, if you’re going to the spa, wouldn’t you be there specifically to relax?
This place is in a great location (biased because I live nearby), but it is at the corner of Roosevelt and Wabash near the Red, Orange & Green lines so pretty great transportation-​wise. You’ll have to be buzzed in when you arrive and if you’re taking the elevator you’ll need to go to 2R. The space itself is a beautiful, modern loft space… and go figure when you’re entering a wellness center wouldn’t you want to be watching «Two and a Half Men» on the plasma? Sets the tone for relaxation right?
While my massage was fine (basic room, no frills which is totally OK) I could not relax because there was a Zumba class going on the entire time. The massage was about 40 minutes (I’d booked for an hour) and though my masseuse was pleasant enough she said «you’ll get used to the noise». Really? Not so much. Upon check out the receptionist could not have been less friendly. She didn’t ask how my service was. She thought it was strange that I asked when a more quite time to come back would be. She said they don’t have any change (for a $ 5 — not even a $ 20!) I had a Groupon for 3 1-​hour massages here and I won’t be back. I won’t recommend it and sadly I won’t try any of their other services either based on my not so warm interactions with the receptionist.
I understand you can get overwhelmed with service from a Groupon, but this is one place that is sorely under prepared for the flow of clients that they’ll be receiving from the website and if they want to have more happy customers they’ll have to make some changes.

I love this place. Kathy is an incredible pilates instructor, and Molly gives amazing massages. I might be a bit biased since it’s walking distance from my house and that Trader Joes is coming in downstairs.
Couple of issues… I have tried to register for the spin class for ONE Sunday out of the next six. They are all booked up. There are only five bikes which is a real downside.
Because the place is so small (workout room), it can be tough to get into any group exercise class that you want. I have found that it hasn’t been too conducive with my schedule as of late.
My only issues — NEED a bigger group fitness space and more equipment. Other than that, have been pleased.

I’ve recently started taking pilates classes with a girlfriend at Interchange. The classes break down to about $ 30 per hour, and I honestly think it’s worth it. Far less than a personal training session, and my body feels just as beat when I’m done. The moves look so simple. When Kathy Trainor (seriously her name!) shows the moves, I’m thinking «Jeeze lady, I’m here to work out, not just stretch», but when I need to replicate what she’s done, I feel the burn. My girlfriend is much more advanced than I am, but we can do all the same moves so the session flows nicely. She will often do a more advanced move, or go a bit deeper, etc. I’m a total beginner and just really out of shape! (well, not if you consider round a shape… then I’m quite in shape)
Kathy’s voice is really calm and soothing, and she is very knowledgeable about what moves we’re doing, how to avoid getting hurt, and what modifications I can do to still be working the same muscle groups without being able to extend to the full range of motion. The entire gym is first rate. Everyone I’ve met there is very pleasant and it’s not a crazy bustling gym like most others. It’s a nice change of pace once a week for my pilates class. I’ve been twice but I’m sure I’ll become an addict and keep buying those 10 week packages!