University Hospitals Launches Men's Health Initiative

University Hospitals is opening a men's health center with the aim of addressing health disparities between men and women.

The new center is meant to go beyond raising awareness, said Dr. Lee Ponsky, department chair and professor of urology at UH Cleveland Medical Center. There are measurable health differences between men and women that the health center will address, he said.

"When men are dying three to six years earlier than women across the board, and when 250,000 less men than women are seeing a doctor every year, we have a real problem, and some of this we can fix,” he said.

UH is using a $15 million gift to launch this initiative, which will be housed in the existing Otis Moss Health Center in Fairfax and at the Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood.

While there will be physical locations for the initiative, Ponsky says UH also will look at using telehealth and apps to help men get the health care they need no matter where they are.

"We'd like to reach all men who are at risk,” he said. “We are completely committed to treating all men, in all different neighborhoods.”

Ponsky says fewer than 50 percent of men have a primary care provider and men’s life expectancy is seven years less than women’s, on average.

Other local health systems have also tried to address health disparities for men, like the Cleveland Clinic's annual Minority Men's Health Fair.