Just in: Norwood wins the Gold!

Following is a press release from Ohio Department of Health’s Office of Public Affairs announcing the 21 Ohio communities that will be receiving Healthy Ohio-Healthy Community Awards on October 16. Norwood is the only Hamilton County community named and will be receiving a Gold Award, the highest possible. We just spoke with someone in the Public Affairs office who explained that the outstanding services and programs provided by Norwood Health Department helped get the award but that features such as our parks, sidewalks, and other attributes and services were also taken into account.

Congratulations to Norwood!

For immediate release – Oct. 2, 2008

OHIO COMMUNITIES TO BE HONORED FOR PROMOTING GOOD HEALTH

Twenty-one communities receive Healthy Ohio-Healthy Community Awards

COLUMBUS – Fifteen cities, three villages, two counties and one neighborhood will be honored for promoting good health for their residents.

The Office of Healthy Ohio will present Healthy Ohio-Healthy Community awards to the 21 communities at the Ohio Society for Public Health Education Health Educator’s Institute annual meeting, slated for Oct. 16 at Mohican Resort and Conference Center in Loudonville.

“These communities do what it takes to create healthy environments for their residents,” said Ohio Department of Health Director (ODH) Alvin D. Jackson, M.D. “If others emulate their actions, Ohio can truly become the state of living well.”

Healthy Ohio-Healthy Community awards recognize communities’ outstanding achievements in implementing health-related policies and providing healthy community environments. The award recognizes communities’ efforts in encouraging and enabling employees, residents and visitors to make healthy choices including participating in physical activity, eating good, nutritious foods and avoiding tobacco.

Housed at ODH, the Office of Healthy Ohio is part of Gov. Ted Strickland’s Turnaround Ohio initiative and consists of three core areas: health promotion, disease prevention and health equity.

Healthy Ohio-Healthy Community award winners are:

Gold: Village of Aberdeen (Brown County); Allen County; City of Athens (Athens); City of Bucyrus (Crawford); City of Defiance (Defiance); City of Columbus (Franklin); Village of Fayette (Fulton); City of Findlay (Hancock); City of Napoleon (Henry); City of Norwood (Hamilton); City of Orrville (Wayne); Ross County; City of Warren (Trumbull); City of Westerville (Franklin).

Silver: City of Brunswick (Medina County); City of Bryan (Williams); City of Kettering (Montgomery); City of Lancaster (Fairfield).

Bronze: Village of Deshler (Henry County); City of Heath (Licking); Joy Park Neighborhood – City of Akron (Summit).