It may seem like an unusual initiative for a hospital: a website that features carryout food available from locally-owned restaurants. But as MetroHealth says it fits their mission.
The hospital system has set up a website called “Keep Calm and Carryout.” It features links to restaurants, which are sorted geographically to cover more than a dozen neighborhoods and suburbs from University Circle to Old Brooklyn to Brecksville. MetroHealth spokeswoman Julie Nations says it’s a way to help the community, since so many jobs rely on the restaurant industry.
“We know that 20 percent of your health is based on medical care. And 80 percent is based on social determinants. Do you have a roof over your head, are you safe, do you have transportation, [and] all these sorts of things that make up your life.
“If you know that the pizza joint down the street just re-opened, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to see them on Takeout Tuesday? No offense to the big chain stores, we support them as well. But we want to make sure that our neighbors’ health is taken care of in every way possible.”
Nations adds that they hope to expand the listing to other neighborhoods. And the public can submit new restaurants as they reopen, which Metrohealth will add to the website.
