Enquirer / December 1, 2016
For at least a decade, when people in Sayler Park needed a doctor, they had to go north “up on the hill” to a West Side hospital, Jackie Litchfield Apted said.
But a few weeks ago, the drought ended as Mercy Health, in collaboration with the city of Cincinnati, started operating a health center inside the neighborhood’s elementary school.
“It’s so wonderful to come here. We are so thankful, you don’t know,” said Apted, a fourth-generation Sayler Park resident and president of the neighborhood’s village council.
As part of the city’s broad initiative to turn local schools into community hubs, Mercy Health worked with Cincinnati Public Schools, the Cincinnati Health Department and the Community Learning Center Institute to take on the project of bringing medical care to Sayler Park, Mercy Health spokeswoman Nanette Bentley said. And although the health center operates inside the school, it is open to the public.