Kettering Health is partnering with Homefull to support the well-being of West Dayton.
A new primary care office is now open in Homefull’s Healthy Living project on Gettysburg Avenue, making it more convenient for the local community to access preventive healthcare. The space includes 6 exam rooms, and in addition to the office space, Kettering Health experts will also offer health and wellness educational programs in the facility’s community room.
“We have received such positive response from our patients and the community,” says Katresha Williams-Ellington, nurse practitioner at the practice. “Patients love the accessibility not only to us as primary care but also to a local fully stocked grocery store and pharmacy.”
The full-scale grocery store as well as Ziks Family Pharmacy location, all found inside the Homefull site, make it easy for people to get medicine and other health-related items. These services add to the whole-person approach to wellness that the facility aims to support. West Dayton is a food desert, making it difficult for local residents to get access to healthy food.
“I talk to my patients a lot about eating healthy and how fresh fruits and vegetables can help prevent and cure chronic disease,” says Dr. Rachelle Dulan Hood, Kettering Health Medical Group primary care physician who is practicing in the new Homefull location. “But if those foods are not accessible to people, it’s hard to follow a diet when you can’t get the food. So it was really important for us to partner with Homefull.”
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”392″ gal_title=”Homefull Primary Care Ribbon Cutting”]This is the second location for the practice, with their other location based at Kettering Health Dayton. Having offices in the city of Dayton holds a special meaning for the staff, and teams celebrated the opening of the Homefull location with a ribbon cutting on February 6.
“I’ve been here in the Dayton area for roughly 30 years, so I’m very passionate about providing good care, because it’s desperately needed,” says Tamu Swanson, nurse practitioner at the practice.
“We all live here in Dayton, so it feels like it’s not just a job,” says Dr. Dulan Hood. “For me, it’s taking care of my church family that prayed me through college, prayed me through medical school, and has supported me being a physician. So it feels like coming back home.”