OhioHealth McConnell Heart Health Center Celebrates 25 Years

OhioHealth McConnell Heart Health Center, located at Olentangy River Road, is honored and proud to announce 25 years serving the community.

In honor of the center's anniversary, the McConnell team held celebration activities for associates and members on Thursday, March 23. Activities included exercise classes with a ticket drawing, a DJ, spin the wheel, and more. 

“I am so proud and humbled to be a part of this anniversary,” McConnell’s Director of Retail Operations, Amy Kleski, says, “I truly believe our teams here do life-changing work and it’s very special to get to be a part of that.”

The Center is a medically integrated fitness facility.

“Our fitness center is approximately 62,000 square feet offering a variety of services from state-of-the-art exercise equipment, personal training, Pilates, Group Fitness, two indoor pools, massage therapy, café, indoor track, and most important access to health and fitness experts that can help provide you with the tools you need to meet your health and wellness goals,” Kleski said.

The center also offers a variety of clinical services such as Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab, Medical Weight Management, Bariatric surgery, non-surgical orthopedics, sports medicine, musculoskeletal imaging and diagnostic services, MedSpine, Novacare Physical Therapy, lipid clinic, and much more.

“The anniversary is a commemoration of the vision to have a variety of self-care options all under one roof. Even with a variety of changes in the healthcare landscape, the vision for how this building was set up is still relevant and expanding,” McConnell’s Director of Clinical Services, Sherri Sprang goes on to say, “It is an honor to be a part of a vision that was created over 25 years ago and to still see it thriving today.”

Sprang’s role focuses on the overall health of the community and how the center can provide relevant services in the primary and secondary prevention of disease.

It is important to be able to have easy access to care that has a culture of excellence for everything we do, whether it is focusing on a patient or on a member/guest of the facility,” Sprang says, “Our clinical growth also extends outside of our MHHC walls as we expand our program offerings to other care sites to take the clinical care closer to our patients.”

“It is really hard to grasp that it has been 25 years since we open the doors at this wonderful facility,” Medical Director of the McConnell Spine, Sport and Joint Center, SSJC, Joseph Ruane says, “Personally, I am of course proud to remain affiliated with the McConnell Center for all these years, but more important I’m happy to see its mission fulfilled as the flagship comprehensive integrated wellness center in Central Ohio.”

Joseph Ruane, DO, was present for the grand opening of the center in 1998, beginning his career there as a part-time sports medicine doctor. For him, it’s been a pleasure getting to serve people he now calls friends, and to see how the center has evolved over time.

“One of the best things about the McConnell Center is that it was designed to be place to gather, socialize and support each other,” Dr. Ruane said.

The McConnell Spine, Sport and Joint Center, SSJC, was added in 2006.

“We realized in order to provide true comprehensive care we needed options for people who did not need or were not quite ready for orthopedic surgery,” Dr. Ruane says, “Our practice cares for teen athletes through nonagenarians with the philosophy of providing an exceptional patient experience to keep people active, healthy and engaged in lifestyle they enjoy.”

One word to best describe the center, is culture.

“Anyone who enters the building instantly notices the warm, friendly and welcoming atmosphere.  All of the clinics take care of patients with compassion and a servant attitude.  I am proud to say we have maintained the simple wish of Mr. McConnell to run his facility the way he ran Worthington Industries.  He was very, very proud of the McConnell Heart Health Center and wanted to carry on the high standards he had expected.  I had the pleasure of working by his side for several years as the center developed.  He asked that we follow his Golden rule; treat others as you wish to be treated with respect and kindness.  That is the fabric of the McConnell Center that wraps us all and makes this a special place,” Dr. Ruane said.

And over time, the team explains that staying true to the mission has remained the same over the past 25 years.

“It is the changes outside McConnell that are most impressive, Dr. Ruane says, “The quality and expertise of our services has seen the spread of the McConnell brand to multiple locations across central Ohio.

The team at McConnell want the community to know that the center is more than just a rehab-only facility or that one must have a cardiovascular diagnosis to join.

“My biggest hope for how MHHC is known moving forward would be that we are known as being a center for everyone! No matter where you are on your health and wellness journey, whether you’ve never exercised a day in your life or exercised your entire life, we want everyone to know they are welcomed, and we are here to help them meet their goals. I’ve often heard from members over the years that they enjoy McConnell because they don’t feel judged and they feel at ease when they are here, and as an operator, that is truly all I could hope for,” Kleski said.