The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Healthy Community Center

Joshua Joseph, MD, MPH; Associate Professor of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism / The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center:  You know, it is critical for health care systems to break down the four walls of the hospital and get out in the community and engage. 
The idea behind the Healthy Community Center is how can we all work together to advance health and wellness. This gives us a physical space to work with individuals on healthy eating, healthy nutrition, as well as physical activity and mental health and wellness as well. 
And so our goal here is to bring the community in to work, not only with Ohio State partners, but with community partners, to deliver that crucial health education – so that everyone can lead healthy, long lives. 
The community has been involved with shaping this center from the very beginning. When we think about this building, it was originally a library. It goes all the way back to the East Side Library, which eventually, in 1969, became the Martin Luther King Junior Library. And even in that transition, there was a community organization that was really pushing for understanding the needs of this community, both cultural and civic, and all the different challenges, as well as strengths of this community. 
Kathryn Curry-Da-Souza; Chair, Near East Area Commission: Being placed here on the Near East Side – it’s on Long Street. It's in historic Bronzeville. It’s on, space that is very community-oriented.  It’s some place that the community is passing by all the time, which means that being that it's the Healthy Community Center, this is space that the community will use more often. 
Pamela Shields; Founder and Organizer, Urban Aging Residents Coalition: Doctor Joseph has been just amazing, trying to make sure he included the elders, seniors and the older adults. And when we couldn't get there, he made sure someone sent us notes. So that's what you want in your community and that's what makes this unique. 
Julialynne Walker; JD Development and Urban Agriculture Consultant, Bronzeville Growers Market: It's unique in that it is bringing together resources and programing, unlike as exists other places in the community. 
Javonte McDonald, MBA: Director of the Healthy Community Center: This place is open to anyone. Anyone that wants to come to this building can come to this building. Anyone that wants to participate in our programs, they can participate in our programs. 
We're focused on food, nutrition and wellness, and we want a wraparound service with whatwe provide so that everyone is able to not only get the access to how to cook a healthy meal, but how to do wellness activities after you have the healthy meal, as well as how to have access to healthy meals with our Healthy Cafe that we have in the building. 
And then once you move into that community room, you're having those community conversations you're engaged in, and you're addressing the things such as loneliness that we see out in our community. And then when you hit our wellness room, you're then moving. That's all about movement, and you're starting to understand how the energy you put out can change your day to day in your attitude and the healthy lifestyle that you want to live. 
Dr. Joseph: When we think about community engagement being a pillar of the work that we do,  we are doing that every day right here in the Healthy Community Center, engaging with people,
And all of that is aimed towards building healthier communities, which is a tenet of the Wexner Medical Center. 

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