Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) member Trinity Health is working at the intersection of food production, economic development, and community cohesion—functioning as an anchor institution that circulates resources within a community.
The Food is Medicine strategy entails the ownership and operation of multiple hospital-based farms in 25 states where it has hospitals and health services. The health system’s physicians can prescribe free farm produce to food insecure patients and those who struggle accessing healthy food.
Other examples of Trinity Health’s support of the local food system include Saint Francis Hospital and its Hartford-area community partners helping to establish a grocery store with sliding-scale pricing and a hydroponic farm; Trinity Health and its partners are also working with local bodegas to expand access to nutrient-rich food.
From the Becker’s article:
“This is a model that works. It invests in our local food system, in our communities, and in our patients in a way that is genuinely moving the needle on preventative healthcare,” said Katelyn Smoger, director of Food is Medicine and The Farm at Trinity Health Michigan.