HAMPTON, Va. — Sentara Careplex Hospital in Hampton is offering a different type of prescription, a heart-healthy food box.
Sentara has partnered with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank to offer 10 to 20 patients that are diagnosed with congestive heart failure a food box filled with plenty of low-sodium, healthy ingredients, and recipes to cook.
The pilot will be for individuals who have recently been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, are over the age of 50, and who are motivated to try it. The goal is to improve their health so they will no longer need to battle heart failure and to help prevent them from returning to the hospital.
“If we can get these patients introduced to healthy food at the onset of the disease, we believe it can improve the outcome of their overall health,” said Dr. Anthony Fisher, medical coordinator of the food pharmacy program.
Dr. Fisher said patients recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure can see some health improvements with the right nutritional diet. However, many of the challenges include social determinants like access to healthy food, food cost, and a lack of nutritional education.
The Food Pharmacy Program at Sentara CarePlex Hospital partners doctors with a registered dietitian, a specialized nurse, a social worker, and a food box from the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank to provide a comprehensive care plan for these heart failure patients.
The program invites qualifying patients to weekly workshops for four weeks at Sentara CarePlex Hospital. The workshops will include meeting with a dietitian to develop diet plans. Patients will also receive a food box after each meeting.
“We are thrilled to partner with Sentara CarePlex Hospital to continue to improve the health of the community,” says Karen Joyner, Chief Executive Officer of Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. “This Food Pharmacy will help alleviate the combination of stress and poor nutrition that can make disease management even more challenging and maintaining good health extremely difficult. We are grateful for the support of the Sentara Foundation to make this work possible.”
Funding for the program is from a $5.5 million donation made by Sentara Healthcare for four non-profit organizations supporting Virginia’s safety net organizations. The Virginia Federation of Food Banks received $1 million, with a portion of that going the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank to support food distribution programs like this one.
Sentara Healthcare hopes to share the success of this program with its 11 other hospitals across Virginia and North Carolina.
