OhioHealth will open the newly named OhioHealth Neuroscience Wellness Center to community members in 2019 on the McConnell Wellness Campus near OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.
This 28,500 square-foot center will be the first freestanding, neuroscience wellness center in the country, and serve as a central location for individuals with neurological conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and others. Every detail of the center, designed by Gensler and to be built by Whiting-Turner, is centered on members’ physical and cognitive needs.
The wooded and serene location will help to create the ideal environment to focus, motivate, and empower community members to build strength and live well like never before. The center will offer comprehensive wellness programs designed around exercise, education, and support delivered in a safe and comfortable environment, and all under one roof. The design features a glass enclosed walking bridge, outward facing decks, as well as spectacular views of the courtyard, and more from the indoor walking track.
“This is an opportunity unlike any other around the country. The journey from caring for the sick to keeping people healthy is something our OhioHealth Neuroscience team believes in,” Dr. Brien Smith, vice president, OhioHealth Neuroscience said. “This world-class center allows those with neurological conditions a real chance to avoid feeling lost in their wellness journey, as they manage chronic neurological condition between visits with their physician. This center will empower members, allowing them to thrive, with tailored wellness services just right for them, in an amazing environment.”
The Neuroscience Wellness Center’s goal will be empowering community members by extending wellness into their daily lives. This will include a wide-range of exercise programs, nutrition, stress reduction, yoga, caregiver support programs, and more. Some of the plans for the center include:
• Three large multipurpose, temperature controlled fitness studios offering maximum flexibility for classes
• Indoor cardiovascular studio and indoor walking track
• Education spaces for wellness topics
• John J. Gerlach Center for Senior Health clinical programs and support services specifically for older adults
• “Quiet” studio space for mind-body classes with a deck that extends for outdoor programs
• Courtyard
• Café and locker rooms
The facility will also bring already established OhioHealth wellness programs such as OhioHealth Delay the DiseaseTM, OhioHealth Fore HopeSM, Staying Fit Following Stroke and Brain Injury, and the OhioHealth MS Wellness Program under one roof.
“Our goal is to allow those living with a neurological condition to be their most awesome self,” Dr. Aaron Boster, system medical chief, OhioHealth Neuroimmunology said. “The OhioHealth Neuroscience Wellness Center allows us, as clinicians, to build that next step from our clinical expertise, closing gaps, and pursue new ways to partner with patients, and their families.”
In addition, new programming will be established, expanding access for neuroscience patients and their families, while meeting the demonstrated community need and desire for neuroscience wellness programs. This site will also serve as an incubator for expanded programming. OhioHealth experts will test ideas and expand successful programs to other outlets in central Ohio, and regionally.
As plans and programs start to take shape for the Neuroscience Wellness Center, there has been generous support with a $10 million dollar philanthropically funded effort through the Building Strength for Life – OhioHealth Neuroscience Wellness Center campaign led by the OhioHealth Foundation.
Initially, $6 million dollars came from a gift from John P. McConnell and the McConnell Foundation. Additionally, Mike Endres, former OhioHealth board member and his wife, Jane, made their legacy gift to OhioHealth with a $3 million dollar gift, half of that amount targeted for this project.
Another generous gift comes from Gifford Weary, Ph.D., her husband, David J. Angelo, and the Weary Family Foundation. This $3 million dollar gift will to help advance the Neuroscience program at OhioHealth. $500,000 of that gift supports the Building Strength for Life campaign.
“I wouldn’t be walking if not for the expert surgeons at Riverside Methodist Hospital, and the neuroscience program,” Weary said. “With OhioHealth’s focus on wellness, and creating the Neuroscience Wellness Center in such a special place, it will benefit so many people, and extends value of OhioHealth for these individuals and their families in a way that will be hard to match anywhere else.”
About OhioHealth
OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church.
Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth has been recognized as one of the top five large health systems in America by Truven Health Analytics, an honor it has received six times. It is also recognized by FORTUNE as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” and has been for 12 years in a row, 2007-2018.
Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 29,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 10 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area.
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 and OhioHealth Shelby Hospital. For more information, visit www.ohiohealth.com.
