OhioHealth Community Health Partnerships and Wellness on Wheels Awarded $1 Million Grant
OhioHealth Community Health Partnerships and Wellness on Wheels was recently awarded a $1 million Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) grant, allowing the healthcare system to expand mobile vaccine services.
“These funds will be helpful to OhioHealth as we continue to focus on increasing vaccination rates in targeted populations, especially where vaccine hesitancy is higher than expected,” said Karen Morrison, OhioHealth senior VP of external affairs and president of the OhioHealth Foundation. “Using our mobile unit, we will continue to travel to communities and neighborhoods where our community outreach team will provide education and easy access to vaccinations for individuals who chose to receive them.”
The Wellness on Wheels (WOW) Vaccine Program begin in February 2021 with the Hilltop YMCA partnership. The primary objective of the program has been to improve access for underserved healthcare regions and Community of Color (CoC) patients.
Through July 2021, the WOW mobile unit has provided vaccines at 62 clinics and has given 1,632 total shots, with 734 patients completing their vaccine series. Nearly 70 percent of WOW’s first dose patients have come from a CoC demographic.
Currently WOW holds weekly clinics at the Hilltop YMCA, Directions for Youth (Southeast Columbus) and Westland High School. WOW has also provided pop up events and weekend clinics at:
- Columbus Urban League
- Friendship Baptist Church
- Franklin County Courthouse
- United Way/Mansfield Friendly House Community Center
- Rhema Christian Center
- Prairie Township
- Westerville Asian Family Festival
“I am proud of this award as it affirms confidence in the team’s expertise and success in efficiently activating mobile health clinics,” said Morrison.
OhioHealth is grateful to Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who supported the grant request.
About OhioHealth
Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church.
Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 35,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area. It has been recognized by FORTUNE as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” 14 times since 2007.
OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Berger Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at www.ohiohealth.com.
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