In an effort to ensure the validity of the “application” process to which AZDHS has subjected all gym applicants, Mountainside Fitness submitted an application and enlisted the services of the independent certification company HealthyVerify.
This third-party certification is supported by medical professionals in order to verify a company’s ability to re-open safely.
“We are aware that the AZDHS’ standards of approval were subjective and essentially unknown to the fitness applicants, which is why you will not see them on the website,” said Tom Hatten, Founder and CEO of Mountainside Fitness. “We are also aware that the majority of fitness applicants were denied without knowledge as to what standards would be approved.”
In its lawsuit against the Governor, the Director of AZDHS testified that not one case of Covid-19 has been traced to any AZ gym. After Mountainside Fitness won its temporary restraining order, the Governor’s re-opening process was shifted to the AZDHS much like the mask mandates were shifted to the mayors and the re-opening of the schools shifted to its superintendents, making the AZDHS responsible for the fate of all fitness applicants within their discretion, not the Governor.
“As we have watched this subjective enforcement continue, along with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and the lack of opportunities for our mental and physical health, it has been clear to us this process turned political on June 29th,” said Hatten. “Without our lawsuit, there would not have been a process to re-opening and now that ‘pathway’ is simply a guess for all that apply, resulting in an overwhelming amount of denials. Our stance was simple. We pushed for the right of businesses to stay open, and for the State to have the obligation to show proof or evidence of these subjective closures.”
Mountainside Fitness will re-open on Thursday, August 27th at 4:30am for all members under the protocols certified by an independent medical team. Those protocols are now available on the Mountainside Fitness website.
“We believe the HealthyVerify certification is more in depth than other subjective unknown waiver guidelines the state is unwilling to make public. If we are met with action from the AZDHS, I can assure you that we will be ready to defend our actions. In doing so, we will bring to light much of the untold facts regarding the state’s lack of clarity and accountability of all numbers in this pandemic and seek answers to each subjective ‘waiver’ approval or denial in this much-publicized closure of an industry,” said Hatten.
For media inquiries please contact Jennifer Parks-Sturgeon at [email protected] or (480) 495-3806.
