Unique partnership to elevate health and wellness, be the first of its kind involving entire community.
The City of New Albany and Healthy New Albany, a community-based non-profit organization, today announced plans for a 48,000 square foot, community-based health and wellness center in the heart of New Albany?s historic Village Center that for the first time ever will uniquely blend personalized medicine, exercise and community activities all in one place.
The announcement came as part of a New Albany City Council meeting in which council members approved financing for the project.? Last Friday, The Ohio State University Board of Trustees approved an agreement for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to lease more than 70 percent of the space in the center that will be owned by the City of New Albany. The health and wellness center will provide a platform for Ohio State?s Wexner Medical Center to introduce the concept of personalized healthcare ? also known as P4 Medicine ? to an entire community.
The Healthy New Albany initiative promotes healthy lifestyles for those who live or work in New Albany.? In a short time, Healthy New Albany has organically connected thousands of people through their community magazine, lecture series, and initiatives such as the New Albany Walking Classic, the community garden, and the farmers market. ??This center will be a destination place in the heart of New Albany that will serve as a community hub of health and wellness activity,? said Healthy New Albany Founder Phil Heit.? ?There will be programming for all ages, along with a research component that can help New Albany become the healthiest community in the United States, which is the ultimate goal of Healthy New Albany.?
That research component was a selling point for Ohio State?s Wexner Medical Center, a key partner promoting the concept of P4 Medicine, a novel approach to individualized medical care that engages consumer participation, predicts and prevents disease, facilitates health and creates a personalized life strategy wellness plan for each individual.? ?This is the first time we?ve been able to blend our P4? Medicine philosophy with an entire community, yielding research opportunities never before available,? said Dr. Clay Marsh, executive director of the Center for Personalized Health Care and vice dean and senior associate vice president for research at the College of Medicine at Ohio State. ?P4 Medicine focuses on executing key evidence-based practices to reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes, with an emphasis on how individuals? unique DNA, environment, and behavior define their health and disease.?
P4 Medicine utilizes advances in genomics and molecular diagnostics discoveries to provide predictive information that is necessary to tailor, or personalize, health improvement approaches for each individual. ?Therapeutics and health management tools are being developed to help prevent disease instead of waiting until it develops. Medicine of the future will be participatory, engaging consumers to take ownership of their own health care.
Programming inside the wellness center will be a collaborative effort between Ohio State?s Wexner Medical Center, Healthy New Albany, and other potential partners.? Multi-purpose space will be integrated for activities included all age groups, and students with interests in health or medical careers will have opportunities to interact with Ohio State experts in a ?real-world? learning environment.
?This is very exciting for The Ohio State University as an institution of higher learning.? As a concept, this center could help us globally transform how medicine and wellness are integrated to improve people?s lives; and locally, this center ties seamlessly with New Albany health and fitness amenities that already exist,? said Larry Lewellen, vice president of care coordination and health promotion at Ohio State?s Wexner Medical Center.
City officials expect this wellness center to serve as a catalyst for future Village Center development.? The Village Center is New Albany?s geographic and social core, and the wellness center will be within walking distance of restaurants, coffee shops, government offices, the post office, the library, New Albany Plain Local School District campus, and the McCoy Center for the Arts.? ?The strategic positioning of the wellness center itself, and the community activities that will occur inside it, will create the foot traffic needed to attract more retail tenants to the Village Center. This center will be a wonderful community asset and a reflection of our core values,? said New Albany city manager Joseph Stefanov.? ?It will bring people together in the heart of our town and strengthen our core while supporting health, wellness and education.?
Construction on the wellness center should be complete sometime in early 2014.
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