Walk With a Doc -- 9.6.2013
COLUMBUS PUBLIC HEALTH
FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
New Partnership Combines Physical Activity and Health Information
Walk With a Doc Events Part of Public Health Effort to Combat Obesity Rates
Columbus, Ohio – A new partnership between Columbus Public Health, Walk With a Doc, Mount Carmel Health System, Columbus Recreation and Parks, and the YMCA of Central Ohio is helping Columbus residents take new steps to better health through four signature walking events, beginning in September 2013.
Each hour-long Walk With a Doc walk, which will be led by a Mount Carmel physician, will begin with a brief talk on a current health topic. The doctor will then lead a walk for exercise and additional discussion. Walks will be held bi-weekly on Saturday mornings at parks on the North, South, East and West sides of Columbus. The goal is to bring together residents and community partners to provide walking opportunities in areas that have been identified by the city as “health vulnerable.”
The new Walk With a Doc events are part of Columbus Public Health’s Healthy Places Program, which is working to create a built environment that encourages walking, biking and physical activity. Healthy Places is part of Columbus Public Health’s Active Living initiative to combat the growing obesity epidemic.
“We are very pleased to partner with Walk With a Doc and Mount Carmel to give residents more opportunities to live active and fit lives,” says Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Teresa Long. “This is just one more innovative way we can work together to combat a growing obesity epidemic that threatens a whole new generation of young people.”
Walkers will also have the opportunity to visit the Mount Carmel Community Outreach Mobile Medical Coach, which provides free basic medical care to the under and uninsured. The Mobile Medical Coach will be at one site each month to help connect patients to long-term care.
Walk With a Doc (WWAD) is a national organization created in 2005 by Dr. David Sabgir, a board-certified cardiologist who practices with Mount Carmel Clinical Cardiovascular Specialists. The organization – which is devoted to encouraging healthy physical activity – now successfully operates more than 100 walks throughout the country.
“We are extremely excited about this new partnership,” adds Dr. Sabgir. “Teaming up with Mount Carmel and Columbus Public Health will allow us to expand throughout the city, get neighborhoods moving and provide easier access to a physician for this vulnerable population.”
Walks will be held at Columbus Recreation and Parks facilities at Woodward Park, Indian Mound Park, Big Walnut Park and Holton Recreation Center. Additional support for this initiative is being provided by the Columbus Medical Association Foundation, Institute for Active Living, and the Department of Public Safety.
For more information on Walk With a Doc or specific dates for each site, please visit [email protected] or www.walkwithadoc.org.
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