SYRACUSE — A group of employees at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center on Aug. 4 participated in a noon-hour walk in a designated area around the hospital’s campus and its surrounding neighborhood. The “Monday Mile” loop around St. Joseph’s joins 14 similar pathways near Syracuse City Hall, the Near West Side, and on the Syracuse […]
SYRACUSE — A group of employees at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center on Aug. 4 participated in a noon-hour walk in a designated area around the hospital’s campus and its surrounding neighborhood.
The “Monday Mile” loop around St. Joseph’s joins 14 similar pathways near Syracuse City Hall, the Near West Side, and on the Syracuse University (SU) campus, SU said in a news release.
The St. Joseph’s trail winds its way through North Side neighborhoods and the business district along North Salina Street.
The Monday Mile is a way to help people “kick start” their fitness for the week, Thomas Dennison, director of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, said while speaking to reporters outside St. Joseph’s on Monday.
Dennison is also a professor of practice, public administration, and international affairs at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
“It’s a structured opportunity for people to take some time out of their day using Monday as the day that many people decide to go on a diet or begin exercising,” said Dennison.
If people start exercising, perhaps they’ll stick with it for the whole week and the rest of their lives, he added.
“… because we know that exercise and movement has a direct relationship to good health,” said Dennison.
Each trail is designated with a sign.
“Every loop is about one mile, and they go in a loop so people can follow the signs really easily and get 20 minutes or so of exercise in just by following the signed trail,” he said.
St. Joseph’s believes that improving the community’s health is where health care “needs to start,” Kathryn Ruscitto, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, said in speaking with reporters.
“There’s so much that we do very well to treat illness. We want to get further upstream and engage with people in their communities, in their workplaces to understand all those things to improve health,” said Ruscitto.
The “Monday Mile” is part of Healthy Monday, an initiative of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion at SU’s Maxwell School.
The Healthy Monday effort is focused on creating healthy communities and reducing the burden of chronic disease by getting people active, helping them eat healthier, and learn strategies to better manage stress.
“It’s the brainchild of a gentleman in New York City, Sid Lerner. We’ve had a Lerner Center here in Syracuse for the last three years,” said Dennison.
The Lerner Center has a mission “to improve the health of the community through service, research, education, advocacy, and policy,” according to the SU news release.
The center works in partnership with organizations across campus and in the community to implement the Healthy Monday campaign.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
