Cincy moms are 'Happy to Wait'

Anyone and everyone can play a part in reducing our county’s infant mortality rate. A handful of dedicated students from the University of Cincinnati’s Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) program, led by professor Ryan Mulligan, are getting to use their knowledge and skills to do just that.  In collaboration with Cradle Cincinnati’s newest initiative, Happy to Wait, renovation is underway at the Price Hill Health Center. These UC DAAP students, as well as volunteers from the community, are transforming the center’s interior and providing exterior touch-ups, too.Happy to Wait’s mission is to create vibrant and welcoming environments within health centers, with the goal of making health care more appealing to mothers. If there’s one word to describe the emotion behind Happy to Wait, its excitement.

• The health centers’ staff is excited about the makeovers. A new work environment in the centers will energize all the hard working healthcare professionals, who diligently strive to deliver exceptional care to the women in our city. Just as every woman feels great after a beauty makeover, remodeling the centers will ignite a sense of beauty and worth – both in the centers themselves and in our city. Following the completion of the Price Hill site, work will start at Winton Hills Medical Center (WinMed).

• Cradle Cincinnati is excited to foster an environment of love, support, and encouragement in Cincinnati’s Health Centers. Women’s health is a crisis in our city and we want to do everything we can to ensure women are receiving the care they need and deserve. Doctor’s offices should be welcoming—places mothers are happy to return to. Whether it be a routine physical that offers information on family planning, or a prenatal visit for an expecting mom, Cradle Cincinnati wants moms to be ‘Happy to Wait’ for their appointments.

• Are you excited about this initiative, too? Join the makeover teams as they continue renovation of Cincinnati Health Department Health Centers. Contribute through landscaping, assembling furniture, deep cleaning, and painting. Want to do even more? Sponsor a room’s redesign at a future clinic site with a monetary or material donation.

Below are photos taken at the health center by UC E-News/Melanie Schefft. For more information or to volunteer, contact RyanMulligan, project lead, at ryan.mulligan@uc.edu.