After operating a grocery market in a Toledo, Ohio food desert for a year, Toledo-based ProMedica plans to expand services offered at the market.
ProMedica initially opened the Market on the Green as part of its effort to address hunger as a health issue. It was the first phase of developing the ProMedica Ebeid Institute, a health hub named after philanthropist Russell Ebeid.
Now with its eye on other social determinants of health, officials announced Thursday the Market on the Green will start to offer services like cooking and nutrition classes, health screenings and job training.
"ProMedica's mission is to improve health and well-being and this does not end with the care we provide in our hospitals and healthcare facilities," said Randy Oostra, the health system's president and CEO. "One of the best things we can do to improve someone's health is to help provide them with the tools, education and resources to find employment."
The expanded market will house the Ebeid Financial Opportunity Center, offering career and personal finance assistance to low- to moderate-income people.
"We are writing a new chapter in the way healthcare systems collaborate with neighborhoods and communities to improve health," said Mr. Ebeid. "These are essential services to help lift people out of poverty and offer them a hand up in life — not a hand out."