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August 2026
Franklin County Public Health wants to stay connected with our partners in creating informed and healthy communities. This newsletter is here to serve as a tool for you to share resources for your community, schools, and families in your district.
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Epidemiology Report
Review the August Epidemiology report.
Back to School Immunization – Extended Clinic Hours
This is a reminder that our Immunization Program staff have extended their clinic hours for school-age children from August through October at our office location:
Franklin County Public Health
280 E. Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Appointments are preferred. To schedule an appointment, visit our website or download the flyer. For questions, please call (614) 525-3719.
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Time
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Thursday, August 27
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8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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Thursday, September 17
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8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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Thursday, September 24
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8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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Thursday, October 8
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8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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Franklin County Public Health is proud to join our partners at the Columbus and Franklin County Addiction Plan at this month’s Hope in the Park event in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD). IOAD is an opportunity to remember those that have been lost to overdose and strengthen our collective efforts to prevent overdose deaths in the future. It is also a time to raise awareness about substance use, combat stigma and celebrate recovery.
FCPH will join our partners in the addiction, recovery and grief support space for a recognition and remembrance event at Goodale Park that will include resource tables, grief and recovery support, remembrance activities, and family friendly activities. A food truck will be on site for refreshments throughout the event. The 2026 IOAD event is FREE and open to all.
We hope you’ll join us for this important and impactful event.
We hope to see you at one of our upcoming outreach events this August. Stop by to connect with our team, learn about available resources, and discover programs that support healthy communities across Franklin County!
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Friday, August 7 | 8:00 a.m.– 4:30 p.m. Symposium on Unified Military & Veteran Multidisciplinary Innovation📍 1739 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43210
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Saturday, August 8 | 7:00 a.m.– 12:30 p.m. 2026 Black Men’s Wellness Day📍 639 East Long Street, Columbus, OH 43215
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Monday, August 10 | 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. Prairie Township Farmers Market – Family Day 📍 5955 W. Broad St., Galloway, OH 43119
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Tuesday, August 11 | 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Eastside CHAT at the Whitehall Library 📍 4445 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43213
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Friday, August 14 | 6:30–7:30 p.m. Clinton Township Produce Market 📍 3820 Cleveland Ave., Columbus, OH 43224
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Monday, August 17 | 4:00–7:00 p.m. Prairie Township Farmers Market 📍 5955 W. Broad St., Galloway, OH 43119
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Thursday, August 20 | 10:30–11:30 a.m. Canal Winchester CHAT at the Canal Winchester Library 📍 123 Groveport Rd., Canal Winchester, OH 43110
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Friday, August 28 | 6:30–7:30 p.m. Clinton Township Produce Market 📍 3820 Cleveland Ave., Columbus, OH 43224
View the calendar for more events and informaiton!
The healthy eating and active living team continue to offer the Gardens: HEAL program across the county. The program offers hands-on nutrition education by preparing three different fresh salsa recipes. In partnership with The Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, the program combines gardening, nutrition education, physical activity, and hands-on learning using the Rock the Bike stationary blender bike, creating an engaging and interactive experience that encourages healthy lifestyle behaviors.
If you're interested in bringing the Gardens: HEAL program to your school, community organization, or event, please contact the FCPH Health Promotion team to learn more about scheduling a program and how we can partner to promote healthy eating and active living in your community.
Peer Support Program
FCPH Certified Peer Supporters are trained to use their lived experiences to help others impacted by mental illness or substance use disorder. They help their clients to find local services and recovery support agencies, and they provide information about employment, housing barriers, and long-term residential care.
Referrals can now be submitted by community members on their own behalf or by external partners using our online referral form. Referrals can be submitted by using the referral link.
Care Coordination & The Ohio Disability and Health Partnership (ODHP)
In partnership with The Ohio State University (OSU) Nisonger Center and the ODHP Linkages Program, the Care Coordination (CC) Program has expanded its capacity to better serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The CC Program has five Community Health Workers (CHWs) who are trained and prepared to work alongside adults with disabilities to improve their mental and physical health outcomes, manage chronic conditions, and connect to social services throughout the community. The partnership will include further capacity building and training to ensure that all CC Program team members are trained to work with adults with disabilities, sustainably.
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Communications & Public Affairs
We’re excited to announce the launch of our First Responders campaign! This anti-stigma initiative is aimed at Franklin County police, fire and EMS workers and emphasizes the availability and effectiveness of overdose prevention resources like naloxone. Several local police and fire departments helped us bring this campaign to life!
We held photoshoots with Norwich Township Fire Department, Madison Township Fire Department, and Gahanna Police Department to capture images for campaign materials. This month, we published our campaign webpage along with a series of digital and social media ads that encourage first responders to carry naloxone!
New Mosquito Spray Graphics & Messaging
 We’re excited to announce that we’ve created a new set of mosquito spray imagery for you all to use on your social media channels!
Spray Notification Messaging
For the body of your social posts and any other mediums where residents can learn about spray scheduling, we ask that everyone stay on message. Going off-script can result in confusion and questions about why one locality informs residents differently than another. Here’s the language we’d like everyone to use:
”Mosquito spraying is scheduled (time range – tonight, tomorrow, date) at (area or areas) weather permitting. To view a map of the area(s) being sprayed, FAQs about mosquito spraying and safety tips please visit https://mosquito.myfcph.org/spray-schedule-maps/.”
Reach out to ZachWatson@franklincountyohio.gov, Communications, or ZachHolbert-Watson@franklincountyohio.gov, Community Environmental Health Supervisor, if you have questions or concerns.
The Office of Epidemiology & Data published a new data dashboard on the Franklin County CARES website. This dashboard presents anonymized results from the Overdose Data to Action surveillance strategy 'Component B'. The goal of this strategy is to implement a community drug paraphernalia testing program, providing timely information about substances detected in used drug paraphernalia samples collected through participating community members. The data offer a unique snapshot of the local unregulated drug supply and help identify emerging trends in the substances people are being exposed to. This is especially important among a rapidly changing illicit drug supply where drugs sold under the same name may contain different substances from one batch to the next, and their potency or purity can vary widely. Increasingly, the unregulated drug market includes complex mixtures of multiple substances—such as opioids, stimulants, benzodiazepines, tranquilizers, and other adulterants—that can significantly increase the risk of overdose and other serious health harms. This information can be utilized to track changes in the composition of the local drug supply over time, informing public health responses, overdoses prevention efforts and community outreach. This information can also be used by community members to better understand emerging risks and respond more quickly to changes in the drug supply.
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We want your community events and festivals to be a huge success. Unfortunately, many food vendors are not submitting their temporary food license application in a timely manner or they are not submitting them at all.
Please remind food vendors who are participating in your community events that they are required to submit a temporary food license application at least ten days before your event or their request will be denied.
Vendors can find more information on our website and they can access Accela, our online portal system, to complete their temporary food license application.
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The 2027 Community Waste Reduction Grant application period is now OPEN!
SWACO provides grant funding for projects in Central Ohio that support waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, food donation, and diversion education efforts. More than $276,000.00 in grant funding was awarded to 14 local organizations in 2026. Applications are due Friday, August 7, 2026.
- The Community Waste Reduction Grant (CWRG) is a competitive grant program that provides funding for projects that reduce waste and/or increase the diversion of recoverable materials that would otherwise be sent to the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill for disposal. Local governmental or non-profit organizations, including cities, townships, villages, parks, K-12 schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and faith-based organizations in SWACO's jurisdiction are eligible to apply. Proposed projects should address the unique waste reduction, diversion, recycling, and composting needs of Central Ohio, emphasize partnership building and collaboration, and address opportunities to leverage the waste stream for community benefit.
- The Event Waste Reduction Grant (EWRG), seeks to assist local event organizers with reducing event-generated waste and diverting as much material as possible from the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill. Event waste-reduction grants can also help event organizers build the infrastructure needed to sustain diversion efforts beyond the grant funding year.
Interested applicants, planning events, should contact Kristi Higginbotham, SWACO Programs Administrator at: grants@swaco.org or 614-871-5100 before drafting an application to discuss the timeline and proposed activities.
OneOhio Recovery Foundation Launches Cannabis Education Campaign for Pregnant Women
The OneOhio Recovery Foundation recently launched the first phase of Ohio’s statewide cannabis public education initiative with a new campaign focused on pregnant women, women who may become pregnant and the people who support them.
Announced during a press conference with leaders from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, the Ohio Department of Commerce, the Ohio Department of Health, Truth Initiative and Franklin County Public Health, this effort is the first in a series of cannabis-focused public education initiatives first announced in May.
The campaign’s message is direct: when it comes to cannabis use during pregnancy, the risk to a baby’s development isn’t worth it.
By combining targeted digital advertising, social media, earned media, direct engagement with moms and families, and educational toolkits for community partners, OneOhio and its campaign collaborators seek to provide trusted, evidence-based information about cannabis use during pregnancy and encourage women to talk with a healthcare provider before using cannabis products.
This campaign launches as cannabis use and public perceptions continue to shift across Ohio. Statewide polling commissioned by OneOhio and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies found that 67% of Ohioans believe cannabis has become more socially acceptable since legalization, while 41% report currently using cannabis, up from 35% in 2024. Among women who are pregnant or hope to become pregnant, 51% reported using cannabis.
The new ads, educational resources, and website cut through confusion by providing straightforward information about cannabis during pregnancy, including why women should talk with a doctor, midwife, or other trusted health care provider before using cannabis products.
Ohioans can learn more at www.oneohiofoundation.com/cannabis-pregnancy.
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American Heart Association's 2026 Central Ohio Heart Walk
The American Heart Association is hosting its annual Central Ohio Heart Walk on Saturday, August 15 at McFerson Commons Park in Columbus.
The Heart Walk brings our community together to create health and hope for every heartbeat. Every participant and every dollar raised helps advance lifesaving research, improve heart health, and expand CPR training in our communities.
Whether you walk in honor of a loved one, as a survivor, or simply to support a healthier future for all, your participation makes a difference.
Please consider joining our community as we work together to end heart disease and stroke.
To register or to get additional information, visit the American Heart Association’s website.
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Freedom to Ride
 Join Central Ohio Greenways and our community partners for an interactive outdoor event focused on bicycling, e-bikes, shared micromobility, and transportation equity. Through guided stations and hands-on demonstrations, attendees will explore how design, policy, operations, and user experience influence who feels safe and comfortable riding.
The event will bring together public agency staff, engineers, planners, parks and recreation professionals, transit partners, advocates, and mobility providers to discuss real-world barriers to bicycling, e-bike safety, shared micromobility operations, and shared use path comfort.
Attendees will rotate through interactive stations featuring insights from Yay Bikes!, Bikes for All People, Johnny Velo, and the City of Columbus. The event will conclude with a panel discussion focused on how agencies are navigating legal considerations, policy implementation, and practical planning and design decisions as bicycling, e-bikes, and shared micromobility continue to evolve.
Following the Freedom to Ride event, participants are encouraged to attend MORPC’s Central Ohio Greenway Forum to witness the reveal of the newest edition of the printed Columbus Metro Bike Map and Regional Trail Guide.
When: Monday, August 17 from 8:30 am - 2:00 pm
Where: Scioto Grove Metro Park, 5172 Jackson Pike, Grove City
RSVP for the event. Light breakfast and boxed lunch will be provided.
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The next jurisdiction update will be sent on
Friday, September 4, 2026.
Visit fcphcommunityhub.org for the latest information.
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