Terry Welker’s “Flow” is seen in the Five Rivers Health Center’s Edgemont Campus and it is a custom-colored aluminum, stainless steel wire. Welker is an architect and sculptor. “‘Flow’ is intended to evoke appreciation and memories of the rich Miami Valley heritage of Five Rivers, and honor the namesake of this life-giving institution. CONTRIBUTED
Here’s a story of real world, objective do-gooding with art at its core.
It began in 2020 during the planning of the Edgemont campus of Five Rivers Health Centers. Design consultants proposed filling the walls of the 84,000-square-foot community health center with generic mass-produced prints.
Kim Bramlage, marketing and communications manager, knew they could do better.
With the help of artists Terry Welker, Amy Deal and Scott Gibbs, the African-American Visual Artists Guild, Front Street Gallery, We Care Arts and dozens of other local creatives, Bramlage selected and installed an inspiring collection of hometown art.
More than 125 artworks at the Edgemont campus — all by local artists — now bring joy to patients and staff alike.
Following this success, Bramlage knew the same treatment had to be applied to the new Five Rivers Health Centers Xenia location, which recently opened to patients.
The site resides in a formerly vacant Rite Aid building. The interior, gutted and rebuilt as a naturally light-filled welcoming space alive with plants and art, will celebrate its official opening with the community on April 9.
Why art?
There are so many reasons visual art is important in our everyday lives, says Bramlage, and the healthcare environment is a perfect example.
Art enhances positive clinical outcomes, helps emotionally navigate illness and injury, and encourages patients to follow up with their healthcare, said Bramlage, who has been with Five Rivers for coming up on 9 years.
“When you see yourself in the art, you’re more comfortable,” she said.
This is certainly the case in the Women’s Health center at the Edgemont Campus.
Five Rivers emphasizes the benefits of breastfeeding and provides mothers with lactation support. As part of this guidance, new moms were treated to a day of on-site pampering, including hair, makeup and massages. A professional photographer took portraits of the mothers as they nursed their babies. The artful photos now hang in the Women’s Health halls.
Art benefits not just patients, but staff as well, lifting morale and sparking engagement and reflection.
Staff were involved with selecting artworks for their work stations. A photograph of Yellow Spring’s Little Art Theatre hung over a desk in the family practice corridor of the Xenia campus, bringing joy to the podiatrist who sits there.
That location’s sensory-friendly room is another example of a mutually-beneficial environment. Amber, a medical assistant, explained the purpose of this special space.
“We have a lot of patients who have sensitives and can get over-stimulated. It would be hard to keep them still and relaxed. Those same patients come in here and are absolutely calm. They’ll sit and watch the bubbler and they’ll touch the wall because it has braille on it.”
She demonstrated a control that changes the color of the room’s lighting from soft green to blue to purple. This can be layered with lighting that resembles a shifting aurora borealis or a sparkling night sky. A nook with a cozy seat looks upon the “bubbler”, a sensory jar-style light with toy fish and bubbles that float up and down.
Amber said that the staff also use the room when they need a break.
Community forward
Five Rivers Health Centers are more than doctors’ offices.
Bramlage described the Xenia site as a “one stop shop”. Patients are treated holistically; for example, they have access to mental health counselors in addition to their family medicine appointments.
The hope is that making healthcare more convenient and efficient will encourage community members to live their healthiest lives. Individuals who may face challenges taking off work, finding transportation, or arranging childcare can consolidate multiple appointments into fewer visits.
In 2024, the six locations saw over 26,000 patients. Staff assisted close to 7,000 individuals apply for insurance through Marketplace or Medicaid, and partnered with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to provide medical, dental, and vision services to children newly placed in foster care or group homes.
A federally qualified health center, no one is turned away for lack of funds.
An in-house specialty pharmacy will soon open in Xenia. A 340B pharmacy, prescriptions that might otherwise cost hundred of dollars are available for much less due to federal funding. Clinical pharmacists are available to sit with patients and talk through their medications. Translation services are offered as well.
The goal is “to be accessible and serve everyone who comes through the door.”
On a recent afternoon, a family of three were leaving their teeth cleaning, where Terry Welker fish mobiles spun gently over their dental chairs. The children happily picked up fresh fruit on their way out.
“We treat the whole patient,” said Bramlage, who takes home ripe fruit on Friday and returns Monday with banana bread for the staff.
Art for everyone
From large scale mobile installations to nature photography to abstract collages, there is eye-catching art at every turn. At Edgemont, where medical and administrative offices and community meeting rooms — where art workshops have been held — occupy 2.5 floors, a double height wall features the steel paintings of Mike Elsass on the first level and an impressive large-scale canvas by self-taught Yellow Springs artist Ira Bruckner on the second.
Scott Gibbs worked with Bramlage to make sure several of his big abstract canvases were available, and they appear in several wings. Bramlage’s max budget was $1,000 per piece to “spread the love,” but established artists like Gibbs shared generously.
It was important to make the art approachable and not “too fancy”, said Bramlage.
“We are mindful about wanting to create a welcoming environment, something that’s warm and not intimidating, but feels comfortable,” she said.
“Five Rivers Health Centers is a Dayton treasure,,” said Amy Deal, whose colorful multimedia collages adorn both the Edgemont and Xenia centers.
Additionally, Deal secured a grant from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District to run art clubs for 5th and 6th graders from Dayton Leadership Academies and Louise Troy Elementary School. The students created color theory-based sculptural artworks that now hang in the exam and conference rooms.
When the center officially opens, the public will be able to participate in creating a wall mosaic at the Xenia location, designed by artist Jes McMillan. Patients, neighbors and friends are invited to place tile pieces that will become the mural.
In keeping with our region’s river theme, the community-driven mural will include a giant starfish and wave design.
If You Go
What: Five Rivers Health Centers Xenia Campus ribbon cutting
When: 10 a.m. April 9
Where: 360 Wilson Drive, Xenia
More info: (937) 281-6800; To view just some of the art collection of Five Rivers Health Centers visit fiverivershealthcenters.org/artist-collections