November 2022 - Page 9 Of 32

‘Game-changing’ gender quotas introduced by Australian research agency

In an attempt to achieve gender equity, Australia’s leading health and medical research funding organization plans to award half of its research grants for its largest funding programme to women and non-binary applicants, starting next year.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) announced the move last week. It will apply to researchers at the mid-career and senior level applying for the agency’s investigator grants, which fund research and salaries. Grants will also be fixed at Aus$400,000 (US$252,000) each a year for five years. Many countries struggle to achieve gender equity in research funding, and the NHRMC will be one of the first agencies to introduce gender quotas at this scale, say researchers.

“It’s game-changing,” says Anna-Maria Arabia, chief executive of the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra. The plan “directly removes a barrier that’s historically led to attrition in the research workforce and has led to the significant under-representation of women at senior levels”, she says.

“It’s a really significant step in the right direction,” says Kylie Walker, chief executive of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Canberra-based organization representing applied scientists and engineers. From 2015 to 2020, the number of women enrolling in undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses in Australia increased by 24{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f}, compared with a 9{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} increase in the number of men enrolling. “We need to obviously work out how to keep them,” says Walker.

Biggest gap

In 2021, 254 investigator grants were awarded, worth Aus$400 million in total. But when two researchers in Melbourne reviewed the data, they found that men had received 23{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} more of the grants, worth an extra Aus$95 million, than had women. There was an outcry from researchers. This year, the agency conducted its own review of investigator-grant outcomes from the past three years and found that the biggest gap was among the most senior researchers. A subsequent discussion paper and consultations with researchers informed the latest decision.

The NHMRC has been working for a decade to address gender inequity in its grant funding. For example, in 2017, it introduced ‘structural priority funding’, which reserves additional money — around 8{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} of the overall grant budget — for high-quality ‘near-miss’ research applications led by women. This approach is also used to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers

But this did not address the gender imbalance among the most established researchers. In 2021, only 20{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} of the applicants in this group were women. Modelling suggested that even raising the priority-funding allocation to 20{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} of the grant budget for senior researchers did not achieve parity, says Anne Kelso, chief executive of the NHMRC. “The skewing of application numbers from men versus women is so great at the upper end of the scheme that the structural priority funding doesn’t get you there,” she says.

The council will be looking to see whether awarding equal numbers of grants by gender leads to an increase in the number of senior women applying for leadership grants, says Kelso.

Skewed workforce

The gender disparities in grant applicants and recipients among senior researchers reflect disparities in the STEM workforce, says Isabelle Kingsley, a research associate at the office of the Australian government’s Women in STEM Ambassador in Sydney. She hopes the NHMRC’s policy will help women to stay in research and progress in their careers.

For early-career researchers, the NHMRC will continue with existing gender-parity measures, such as structural priority funding. Kelso says there is significantly less gender imbalance among early-career researchers. From 2019 to 2021, more applications for investigator grants at the earliest career stage came from women — who were awarded 137 grants, compared to 123 for men. “We found that we hardly needed to use any structural priority funding for the more junior levels,” she says.

Tony Kenna, president of the Australian Society for Medical Research in Brisbane, welcomes the changes, but hope this won’t be the final step. Other NHMRC grant schemes could benefit from similar reforms, he says, as could funding schemes offered by other agencies, such as the Australian Research Council.

Amazon makes a new push into health care

AS BIG tech companies face a brutal slow-down the hunt is on for new areas of expansion. Amazon, which is now America’s second-biggest business by revenue, is a case in point. In the final quarter of 2022 its sales are expected to expand by just 6.7{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} year on year. On November 17th Andy Jassy, Amazon’s chief executive, confirmed that the firm had begun laying off employees and would fire more next year. Mr Jassy said it was the most difficult decision he had made since becoming boss. But he also noted that “big opportunities” lay ahead. One that he highlighted is the largest, most lucrative and hellishly difficult businesses in America: health care.

Many tech firms have health-care ambitions. Apple tracks wellbeing through the iPhone; Microsoft offers cloud-computing services to health firms and Alphabet sells wearable devices and is pumping money into biotech research. But Amazon is now creating the most ambitious offering of all. Two days before Mr Jassy’s statement, on November 15th, it launched “Amazon Clinic”, an online service operating in 32 states that offers virtual health care for over 20 conditions, from acne to allergies. Amazon describes the new service as a virtual storefront that connects users with third-party health providers.

Amazon makes a new push into health care

The Amazon Clinic launch follows the $3.9bn takeover, announced in July, of One Medical, a primary-care provider that offers telehealth services and runs bricks-and-mortar clinics (the deal has yet to close). It has 790,000 members. The deal was led by Neil Lindsay, formerly responsible for Prime, Amazon’s subscription service, who has said health care “is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention”.

These latest moves complement Amazon’s existing assets. Its Halo band, a wearable device that went on sale in 2020, monitors the health status of users. In 2018 it bought PillPack, a digital pharmacy that is now part of Amazon Pharmacy, for $753m. Amazon Web Services launched specific cloud services for health care and life science companies in 2021.

The move into primary care, jargon for the role of the traditional family doctor, is a big step but has an obvious logic. Walgreens, a pharmacy chain, reckons the industry is worth $1trn a year. Around half of Generation Z and millennial Americans do not have a primary-care doctor and One Medical’s membership has almost doubled since 2019. Amazon Clinic will accept cash for its services, rather than relying on America’s nightmare insurance system to recoup costs.

The company is betting that primary care will become more digital. And it is likely that it will seek to integrate these services with other parts of Amazon’s health-care offering. Amazon Clinic’s new users can buy drugs from Amazon Pharmacy. Over time the firm could add a feature to the Halo band reminding users to take medicine. It might also set up clinics in branches of Whole Foods, the supermarket chain it acquired in 2017. And it may wrap health care into Prime, which now has some 200m members worldwide. “The low-hanging fruit is offering discounts on membership to Prime members,” says Daniel Grosslight of Citigroup, a bank.

Amazon’s health push comes with several risks. One is that its own record is far from flawless. It is closing Amazon Care, which it launched to provide health services for its own employees and which expanded to offer some services to outside customers. Haven—a collaboration with Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment firm, and JPMorgan Chase, a bank—was set up in 2018 to procure lower cost health care for employees, but died less than three years later.

Another danger is competition. cvs, an American retail pharmacy, reportedly outbid Amazon for Signify Health, a large primary-care provider in September. In October, Walgreens increased its stake in Villagemd with a $5.2bn investment. JPMorgan recently opened primary-care centres of its own. Amazon’s new venture will also compete with the likes of Ro and Hims & Hers, tech startups dedicated to providing virtual health care.

Finally, Amazon will have to grapple with regulators. The Federal Trade Commission, a trust-busting agency, is examining the One Medical deal. The takeover, and the launch of Amazon Clinic, will raise questions about who should be allowed to hold sensitive health-care data. Amazon has said “we remain focused on the important mission of protecting customers’ health information”. The firm may need to set up hefty firewalls to separate customer information held by clinics from that gathered through other products and services. But satisfying data-privacy concerns could wipe out many of the data-sharing opportunities that Amazon deftly deploys across the rest of its business.

Amazon’s attempts at disrupting health care will be subject to intense scrutiny. Nonetheless it should have a positive effect on health care in America. Its experience at keeping customers happy while generating razor-thin margins could improve primary care and force other providers to up their game. It may also prompt other tech giants to do more to disrupt health care themselves. All this may be just the medicine that America’s heath-care system—and Mr Jassy’s tenure as Amazon’s boss—badly need.■

Five questions: FSU exercise physiologist works to help individuals achieve optimal performance

Michael Ormsbee, a professor in the College of Health and Human Sciences

Professor of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology Michael Ormsbee first became interested in how the body performs as a high school athlete, an interest that blossomed into a full-time career.

As a professor and director of Florida State University’s Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine, or ISSM, he has worked with both individuals who are competing at the highest levels of athletic competition and those who are trying to improve their overall health.

He answered five questions about how he came to work in this field and his latest projects.

What first drew you to the field of exercise physiology and nutrition?

I grew up in an active household and played sports my entire life. I began training as a young teen and was always competing at the President’s Physical Fitness Tests that were held annually in middle and high school. My older brother was the same way and began to read some of the old school muscle and fitness magazines for fun. I was fortunate to then go on to college and play ice hockey. Around that time, I took an introduction to exercise physiology class as a freshman and had a professor that made me love the material and want to learn more. I was hooked.

How have your perspectives changed since you started working in the field? Or are there areas you are more interested in now as opposed to when you started?

My view has changed from a “me focused” approach to a more altruistic approach to asking research questions. I was at first, of course, interested in learning more about exercise and nutrition to improve my own personal performance on the ice or in the weight room. Later that morphed into a focus on how to help others achieve a high level of performance, be it for athletes to be bigger, faster and stronger or for the general population to be healthier, fit and happy. I suppose some of my interests shifted also to older populations as I got older too. In recent years, we have also become more focused on wearable technologies for sport, female physiology and sleep science. However, the underlying focus has always been to use nutrition and exercise to improve health, body composition and performance of any of the populations that we study.

You recently took over as director of the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine. What do you see as the role or mission of that institute going forward?

The vision I have for the institute is to make it the top authority in sport science, performance nutrition and sports medicine globally. We have some great momentum nationally and some collaborations internationally, but there is a need to expand our reach. In this new role, I hope to more fully incorporate interested researchers and research programs from both athletics and from medicine. We have traction in both areas, but I will be looking to expand our collaborations and reach. Simultaneously, I hope to provide improved experiences for students to not only learn about the theory of exercise and nutrition science, but to put it into practice. We are now re-opening our successful community outreach program to allow pay-for-service testing so that the community can have an “athlete experience” and get data to improve their own health such as fitness level, lactate threshold, aerobic capacity, body fat and muscle mass, or simply run on our anti-gravity treadmill.

This growth mindset will help to, first, gain visibility on campus and in our community and also open up research collaboration opportunities that did not exist before.

In addition to your work looking at how elite athletes can achieve optimal performance, you also are working on a project about how some of these principles can be applied to individuals struggling with health issues such as obesity and potentially Type 2 diabetes. Can you talk a little bit about how these different types of projects intersect or how one might help inform the other?

Yes, I have been fortunate to work with athletes, the general population and clinical populations. While these may sound like completely different research areas, they all fit under our primary umbrella of human performance nutrition research. For me, I think improving performance is equally impressive whether it is to simply take a few more steps, to be able to climb a flight of stairs, to improve body composition or translate it into actual on-field performance changes. Performance should not be limited to athletes; we all need to perform in life and at work. So, while our populations vary, our end goal is usually quite similar.

Currently we are working on projects with FSU athletes, firefighters, obese and diabetic individuals, and active older adults. What fascinates me constantly is the cross-talk between traditional medicine and sports nutrition. For example, there are a number of instances where a sports nutrition product is now used in clinical populations and vice versa. To give one example, creatine supplementation began in athletes but is now used in a plethora of clinical conditions with success. Likewise, there are modified starches that were developed for a clinical condition called glycogen storage disease that are now used by athletes.

The beauty of our work is that it is highly engaging for the scientist and is translatable for the physician, athlete or coach.

Where do you see your research going forward? Do you have any specific plans for ISSM or your personal research agenda that you’d like to share?

I am beginning to meet with other top research facilities and directors of other institutes that are similar to ours to understand what works and what does not. That will ultimately translate into an updated mission, increased collaboration with highly funded institutes or centers and improved recognition worldwide. I’m excited to bring in new faculty to the institute (we are currently hiring an assistant professor of sports nutrition) and creating more internal and external affiliates to focus on areas such as female physiology, warfighter/first responder resilience, sleep medicine, elite athletics and sports medicine.

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Middle East and Africa Medical Equipment Maintenance Market is Expected to Reach USD 1,710.43 Million with is Growing at a CAGR of 7.9{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f}by 2029

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Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the market is growing with a CAGR of 7.9{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029 and expected to reach USD 1,710.43 million by 2029. Technological advancement in delivering effective healthcare services can boost the market of maintenance market.

To bestow clients with the most excellent results, Middle East and Africa Medical Equipment Maintenance Market survey report has been generated by using integrated approaches and latest technology. The industry report supports to establish and optimize each stage in the lifecycle of industrial process that includes engagement, acquisition, retention, and monetization. In this report, trends of HEALTHCARE industry are formulated on macro level which helps clients and the businesses figure out market place and possible future issues. Middle East and Africa Medical Equipment Maintenance Market report provides key measurements, status of the manufacturers while proving as a noteworthy source of direction for the businesses and organizations.

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Key Market Competitors Covered in the Report

Siemens Healthcare GmbH

General Electric Company

Cook Medical LLC

B.Braun Melsungen AG

Cardinal Health

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA

Stryker

Boston Scientific Corporation

Hitachi, Ltd.

Agfa-Gevaert Group

Agiliti Health, Inc.

Alpha Source, Inc.

Aramark

Atlantis Worldwide

CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION

Carestream Health

ERD

FUJIFILM Europe GmbH

Hoya Corporation

InterMed Group, Inc.

KARL STORZ

Medtronic

Olympus Corporation

Richard Wolf GmBH

SAMSUNGHEALTHCARE.COM

Shimadzu Corporation

Smith-Nephew

Terumo Corporation

Zimmer Biomet

Market Overview:

Medical equipment maintenance involves activities which relates to providing adequate level of service in order to maintain the medical equipment. The main objective in doing so is to reduce the down time of medical devices in the facility, this can lead to optimum productivity, saves cost and provide better healthcare services to its consumers. There are two types of medical equipment maintenance techniques which are quite popular and it is categorized as preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance. Preventive maintenance is a method of service in which it proactively initiate tasks of maintenance plans to prevent equipment failures from occurring, it’s also predicts the failure of equipment there by it is also called predictive maintenance. The main objective of preventive maintenance is to minimize the consequence of failure or determining the risk of the failure. It is an established procedure or routine of periodically inspecting equipment, noticing small issues and fixing them before become a major problems. On the other hand, Corrective maintenance is done after the failure has occurred. This done on an immediate bases in order to reduce the downtime of the equipment.

Rising prevalence of chronic diseases across the region is the major driving factor in the market. Lack of infrastructure in healthcare services can prove to be a challenge however emergence of time-efficient solutions & various standards can prove to be an opportunity. The restraint is higher cost associated with the maintenance of the medical equipment. Also challenges faced due to the impact of Covid-19 on the supply chain of the raw materials are the restraining factors.

This Medical equipment maintenance market report provides details of market share, new developments, and product pipeline analysis, impact of domestic and localised market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, product approvals, strategic decisions, product launches, geographic expansions, and technological innovations in the market. To understand the analysis and the market scenario contact us for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you create a revenue impact solution to achieve your desired goal.

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Middle East & Africa Medical Equipment Maintenance Market Scope and Market Size

Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market is segmented on the basis of device type, service type, service providers, level of maintenance, end user. The growth among segments helps you analyse niche pockets of growth and strategies to approach the market and determine your core application areas and the difference in your target markets.

On the basis of device type, the Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market is segmented into imaging equipment, endoscopic devices, surgical instruments, electro medical equipment, other medical equipment. In 2022, imaging equipment held larger share in medical equipment maintenance market owing to factors growing inclination of hospitals and heath firms towards the automation and digitization of radiology and increasing adoption of minimally invasive procedures including diagnostic imaging systems in hospitals and clinics to improve the quality of patient care with minimal invasive marks.

On the basis of service type, the Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market has been segmented into performance/operational, preventive, corrective. In 2022, preventive segment held larger share in the medical equipment maintenance market due to factors such as growing demands for improving customer experience for medical equipment services, boosting the operation, economic performance of customer service and improved internalization, outsourcing or re-internalization policy of customer service can fuel the growth of maintenance services. The main objective of these service is to improve quality of service, speed at which the service is offered, dependability, flexibility and cost offered by services.

On the basis of service providers, the Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market has been segmented into external service providers, in-house service providers. In 2022, in-house service providers segment held larger share in the medical equipment maintenance market due to factors such as the increasing cases of chronic disorders is boosting the demand for medical equipment’s. Due to this rising demands for the lifesaving medical equipment’s and medical engineering products, there is a difficulty faced by the organizations to keep in pace with the demand. Services providers plays an important role in keeping the organization functional. As these services providers can ensure uniformity, accuracy, consistency, and accountability of the medical equipment’s.

On the basis of level of maintenance, the Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market has been segmented into level 1 user (or first-line), level 2 technician, level 3 specialized. In 2022, level 3 specialized segment held larger share in the medical equipment maintenance market due to factors such as the rise of pandemic across globe, it has significantly boosted the patients opting for medical treatment, in order to provide services to these patients the medical equipment’s are running over time. This leads to failure of equipment’s, depending on the nature of failure maintenance services can be offered.

On the basis of end user, the Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market has been segmented into hospitals, clinics, laboratory, other health care centers. In 2022, Hospitals segment held larger share in the medical equipment maintenance market due to factors such as the growing demands for medical equipment’s such as orthopedic implants and prosthetics, cardiovascular devices, neurovascular devices, general equipment & supplies, patient monitoring equipment, ophthalmic devices in hospitals, which needs to be regularly maintained in order to maintain its efficiency and productivity in order to maintain the service offered to its seekers.

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Middle East & Africa Medical Equipment Maintenance Market Country Level Analysis

Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market is analysed and market size information is provided by device type, service type, service providers, level of maintenance, end user.

The countries covered in Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market report are Israel, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., South Africa, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Rest of Middle East & Africa.

Israel is dominating country in this region due to rapidly growing healthcare infrastructure and government initiatives. Saudi Arabia stands second in this region due to increasing health awareness and medical equipment usage. U.A.E. is third dominating country due to growing technological trend in healthcare sector.

Israel is dominating country in this region due to rapidly growing healthcare infrastructure and government initiatives. Also there is increasing automation and digitization of radiology and adoption of minimally invasive procedures including diagnostic imaging systems in hospitals to improve the quality of patient care with minimal invasive marks. This demand for medical equipment’s can boost the market of maintenance market.

The country section of the report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in regulation in the market domestically that impacts the current and future trends of the market. Data points such as new sales, replacement sales, country demographics, regulatory acts and import-export tariffs are some of the major pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, presence and availability of Middle East & Africa brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, impact of sales channels are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.

Rising Demand of Middle East & Africa Medical Equipment Maintenance.

Medical equipment maintenance market also provides you with detailed market analysis for every country growth in industry with sales, components sales, impact of technological development medical equipment maintenance and changes in regulatory scenarios with their support for the medical equipment maintenance market. The data is available for historic period 2011 to 2020.

Competitive Landscape and Middle East & Africa Medical Equipment Maintenance Market Share Analysis

Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, Middle East & Africa presence, production sites and facilities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product trials pipelines, product approvals, patents, product width and breadth, application dominance, technology lifeline curve. The above data points provided are only related to the companies’ focus related to Middle East & Africa medical equipment maintenance market.

Queries Resolved In This Report:
1. Which will be the specialties at which Market players profiling with intensive designs, financials, and furthermore, ongoing headways should set nearness?
2. Which will be the foreseen development rates for your own economy out and out and furthermore for each portion inside?
3. Which will be the application and sorts and estimate joined intently by makers?
4. Which will be the dangers which will attack growth?
5. The length of the global market opportunity?
6. How Market share advance vacillations their value from various assembling brands?

Highlights of this Study Market Research Report:
1. To strategically profile key players and comprehensively analyze their market position in terms of ranking and core competencies, and detail the competitive landscape for market leaders
2. To describe and forecast the market, in terms of value, for various segments, by region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW)
3. Key parameters which are driving this market and restraining its growth
4. What all challenges manufacturers will face as well as new opportunities and threats faced by them.
5. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations

Explore DBMR Comprehensive Coverage on Healthcare Domain:

https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-medical-equipment-maintenance-market

https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/europe-medical-equipment-maintenance-market

https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/asia-pacific-medical-equipment-maintenance-market

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Healthy Lifestyle Hub brings resources and hope to Auburn Gresham

CHICAGO (CBS) — After years of disinvestment, there are new and important resources coming to the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

They are all housed in one new Healthy Lifestyle Hub at 839 W. 79th St., just west of Halsted Street. We have been following the development of the building for many months, and on Friday, CBS 2’s Irika Sargent was there for the grand opening.

You may remember in July, Sargent and CBS 2’s Joe Donlon were at the same building for a special half-hour report about the response to mass shootings on the city’s South and West sides. We chose the Healthy Lifestyle Hub as the backdrop for that newscast as a sign of hope for the real change that can be made at the community level – when investments are made in our neighborhoods.

The building at 839 W. 79th St. was built in 1925. The former furniture store had been sitting vacant for the last 25 years. It is right next to Leo High School on 7901 S. Sangamon St., and students had to walk past the shuttered building on the way to school.

The Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation set its sights on developing a project that would serve the whole community – a building that would house medical and dental services, a pharmacy, a café, a bank, and so much more.

On Friday, they celebrated that dream coming to life. During the grand opening celebration from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., residents walked through an open house to learn about all the resources coming to the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. More than 600 guests were expected in all.

Inside the Healthy Lifestyle Hub, bringing new resources to Auburn Gresham

02:58

Carlos Nelson, chief executive officer of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, was the one who first had the idea for the Healthy Lifestyle Hub.

“We’ve been working on this since literally 2016 as a vision to bring back to life this vacant 60,000 square-foot building that’s just sat ominously right near 79th and Halsted – the busiest bus line in the entire city of Chicago,” Nelson said.

The Chicago Bears were a major benefactor, donating more than $600,000 for the project.

“When the Chicago Bears heard about our work doing the Racial Equity Rapid Response task force; doing COVID response work in Auburn Gresham, they wanted to get involved with what we were doing,” Nelson said.

Inside the Healthy Lifestyle Hub, bringing new resources to Auburn Gresham

02:58

One of the missions with which the Bears signed on was to bring high-quality health care. Another was to demonstrate ways to show how food can be used as medicine – in the form of a high-tech teaching kitchen, Nelson said.

In all, the Auburn Gresham Development Corporation secured nearly $20 million for the project. The Pritzker Traubert Foundation was a major benefector.

Also among the components of the facility are a UI Health Clinic and urgent care center operated by the University of Illinois at Chicago on the second floor, along with a pharmacy. The urgent care center will provide medical, dental, and mental health care, and expects to serve 30,000 patients in the next year alone.

Health care, vocational training, and other benefits at the Healthy Lifestyle Hub

02:01

On the third floor, neighbors can connect with Heartland Alliance, which aims to help people out of poverty for jobs, housing, and family services. The UIC Neighborhood Center will also have a spot offering tutoring and small business workshops.

On the first floor, there will be a Bank of America and a local Black-owned restaurant and coffee shop.

Sargent spoke to a woman who conducts diabetes education, and she said there are also plans for a diabetes educational workshop at the Healthy Lifestyle Hub.

Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation senior director Linda Johnson emphasized the need for better health care in Auburn Gresham.

“Auburn Gresham has been suffering from many, many health inequities for over the years,” she said, “and because of the high population of seniors in the community, this is a dream come true.”

Healthy Lifestyle Hub fills need for health care in Auburn Gresham

02:21

Johnson emphasized that the first person to die of COVID-19 in Chicago was an Auburn Gresham resident. Patricia Frieson, 61, died in mid-March 2020.

The new hub will add over also add 150 jobs to the community, with the goal of building wealth for generations to come who live in the area.

The next goal for the Healthy Lifestyle Hub is to open a women’s health center for prenatal and postnatal care. A senior activity center, a fitness center, and a food pantry are also planned at the Healthy Lifestyle Hub in the future, Nelson said.

Some are calling it the Miracle on 79th Street.

Nelson was thrilled to see hundreds of people turn out at the grand opening Friday evening.

Ambitions pay off for Healthy Lifestyle Hub in Auburn Gresham

03:20

“This is so special to me, and I get asked, how do I feel about this? I’m most excited about the smiles, and the faces, and the glimmers in the eyes,” he said. “This is really about the community – the community taking ownership of this as their project; their building.”

Meanwhile, the great news keeps coming for Auburn Gresham. Auburn Gardens, a $40 million affordable housing development, is being built right across the street from the hub.

A $35 million Metra Electric Line station is also set to open down the street in 2024.

Healthy Lifestyle Hub: The Miracle on 79th Street

02:57

Community leaders say these efforts will not only provide opportunities, but also help in violence prevention.

Irika Sargent

Irika Sargent anchors the CBS2 Chicago weeknight news at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. with Brad Edwards.

Mercato Announces Launch of Thriving Communities Program, eCommerce Platform Increases Healthy Food Access and Grows Small Businesses in Low-Income Communities

Initial roll-out in New York City proves program increases sales for the independent grocer while providing residents with greater choice and convenience. Platform can accelerate online SNAP purchases and provide other healthy food incentives.

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mercato, the nation’s leading eCommerce platform for independent grocers, has announced its new initiative to improve access to healthy foods and foster economic stability in low-income communities.

Thriving Communities works with local governments, private funders and non-profits to bring more grocers onto the eGrocery platform so they can digitize their inventory, offer delivery and enable enrollment and utilization of SNAP online.

It creates what founder and CEO Bobby Brannigan calls “The Mercato Effect” – whereby grocers going online provides residents access to healthy, culturally appropriate foods and the ability to redeem public/private food benefits which in turn creates more jobs, increases grocers’ sales and keeps dollars circulating within the community.

“As the son of an independent grocer in Brooklyn, I know first-hand how critical these independent, local grocers are to the economic and social well-being of their communities,” said Brannigan. “They are the lifeline for so many residents to get fresh, healthy, culturally relevant foods without having to travel far or wait weeks to go to the market. By giving local grocers the tools and technologies to operate online, they can increase their own revenue and fuel healthier ecosystems throughout the country.”

New York City was the first city to partner with Mercato, leveraging Thriving Communities to test a technological pilot that offered subsidized groceries to a cohort of New Yorkers.

“The pandemic challenged food security in unprecedented ways,” said Kate MacKenzie, executive director, New York City Mayor’s Office of Food Policy. “Mercato’s innovative work piloting online grocery benefits making healthy, affordable groceries accessible to all New Yorkers, no matter where they live. New York City is proud to innovate with technology and public benefits, and we are thrilled that Mercato recognizes this too.”

“Getting onto the Mercato platform was game-changing for our store and our shoppers,” said Gustavo Rodriguez of Key Food Stadium, located in the Bronx. “Our sales are increasing literally every day, especially fresh produce, and the technology and service Mercato provides enables us to fulfill orders seamlessly and with the same personal attention and care that our shoppers need and deserve. It feels incredible to be feeding and helping low-income residents in our community.”

Mercato is looking to expand Thriving Communities by finding and collaborating with partners in other cities including Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

For more about Mercato Thriving Communities, the impact it can have and how to get involved visit www.mercato.com/thrive

About Mercato

Mercato is an eCommerce and local delivery platform that provides thousands of independent grocers across the country with the tools and technologies they need to stay competitive in the marketplace. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, it was founded by Bobby Brannigan, the son of a neighborhood grocer in Brooklyn, who saw his father needed to modernize his inventory and delivery systems to stay in business and better serve his shoppers. Since launching in 2015 Mercato has brought more than 1,500 stores across the country onto the platform.

Press Contact: Richard Shea, Shea Communications (917) 584-3542

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SOURCE Mercato