Columbus CEO: Richard Marger, MD, named "Practitioner of the Year"

Columbus CEO magazine recently held its fifth annual Healthcare Achievement Awards, focusing on both 

corporations and individuals that make healthcare more accessible for central Ohioans.

OhioHealth OB/GYN Richard Marger, MD, was named “Practitioner of the Year” by the publication for his work as the medical director of OhioHealth Wellness on Wheels (WOW).

WOW was developed in 1993 as the Project to Reduce Infant Mortality. This program provides services to pregnant and postpartum women in communities that have been identified as having high infant mortality rates.

WOW parks at multiple Columbus City Schools, as well as an area homeless shelter, and sees both students and women living nearby. They’ve provided care for women ranging in age from 11 to 44. The clinical care comes right into the community via semi-truck – essentially, it’s a doctor’s office on wheels. It has exam rooms, consultation rooms, a restroom and a reception area. The team includes board certified OB/GYN physicians, a nurse practitioner, nurses, a social worker and a dietitian.

The overall goal is to provide comprehensive, high quality prenatal and postpartum care and women’s health services to vulnerable and at-risk women in central Ohio, regardless of their ability to pay. It’s all to help reduce infant mortality in central Ohio, which is the death of a baby before reaching his or her first birthday

. The infant mortality rate for WOW is 5.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births – a lower number than the nationwide rate.

"I see more positive than negative," Marger told Columbus CEO in regards to infant mortality. "There's still a lot more to be done. But if we don't try to do something different, you fail by definition. You've got to do something."

To read the entire article, click on the Columbus CEO logo.

Click here to learn more about OhioHealth Wellness on Wheels.