XENIA, OH – Officials have announced that the Grand Opening of the new Greene County Public Health building will be held on Monday, August 13, 2018 from 3:00 – 6:00pm. This event is free and the public is invited and encouraged to attend.
Held adjacent from the round building located at 360 Wilson Drive in Xenia that has served Greene County families for more than 42 years, the ceremony will include a ribbon cutting, remarks from local officials, self- guided tours of the facility, music, and light refreshments.
The new building will fulfill the need for additional offices, more spacious clinic rooms, up to date equipment, and new technology capabilities. The funds for the building come from combined funds received locally to fund public health in Greene County. Funding will not be provided through public tax dollars (the public health levy).
According to the Health Commissioner, Melissa Howell, “Greene County Public Health is excited to help write the next chapter on the future of public health by responding rapidly to the evolving landscape in public health. We have taken the necessary steps to achieve accreditation, sought innovative ways to expand healthcare services, and will open the new facility to the public by mid-August”.
“For nearly 100 years, we have responded to diseases that concern our residents such as smallpox, anthrax, SARS, MERS-CoV, Ebola, and now Chikungunya and Zika. Our current health challenges in Greene County include lack of good nutrition and physical activity which leads to obesity and chronic disease, assuring young women see a doctor in the first trimester of pregnancy, substance use and behavioral health, and assuring the population maintains balance and flexibility as they age. Every three years we are collecting health assessment data through telephone surveys and focus groups, and then responding to those identified concerns by
implementing evidence-based programs and services. The new era of public health draws on leadership from public and private sectors to impact community health in collective efforts. Our zip codes are more telling of health outcomes in a particular community than our genetic makeup. Our communities are safer due to the work of our professional public health staff who inspect our restaurants, protect air quality, and promote safe water.
For this reason, we are training community health workers, disease scientists, and health educators to address broader issues such as education, transportation, food safety and security, safe neighborhoods, and the development of health policies”, Howell added.
For more information about Greene County Public Health, please call 937-374-5600 or visit the website at www.gcph.info.