Healthy Campus, Healthy Community

Oakwood University living out its mission to improve lives on and off campus

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akwood University’s new Community Health Action Center is on target to open by the first of June. This is the latest offering by the campus to serve and improve lives of students and nearby residents, and is the result of a multi-phased plan with extensive study, showing the clinic is needed. “Our research showed many in the community suffer from health challenges that many associate with health disparities,” said Dr. Prudence Pollard, Oakwood’s vice president for Quality, Research, and Faculty Development. “We also saw job insecurity and food insecurity. Those are related to health, especially now during COVID, with people losing jobs.” Oakwood University and Huntsville Hospital signed a partnership agreement for the Center on February 24 (at right). Hospital staff will perform checkups and triage care, and Oakwood will support the operation in a number of ways, including

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through hands-on training for students in various tracts. For example, nursing students will teach cardiovascular classes, and students in nutrition and dietetics will teach sessions on food preparation. Nursing students will also do rotations to get experience in patient care, and education students will help with story hour and other teaching activities with children. There will also be a food pantry. The school’s research shows the health center will fill other needs, besides medical care. “We are concerned for single parents,” said Dr. Pollard. “We did analytics on zip code 35816 and households are primarily single female-headed, with income below the poverty level, and an average of three children. We know the children need afterschool care, and we also wanted to establish a weekend program to give the parent some breathing room.” Oakwood University raised $3 million from alumni and friends of the school to

A HUNTSVILLE/MADISON COUNTY CHAMBER PUBLICATION