Baptist Health Richmond opens patient food bank
Any patient who receives care at the hospital is eligible to receive a food bag.
RICHMOND, KY (September 22, 2022) – The patient food bank is now open at Baptist Health Richmond to support patients who are food insecure. Any patient who receives care at the hospital is eligible to receive a food bag, including 2-3 days of food supply. Each food bag also includes information about the GoDirectory.info, so patients can be connected with ongoing, sustainable resources.
Every three years, the hospital completes a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to identify the health needs of our community. To support our mission of improving health in our communities, we then outline how we will address those needs in our Implementation Strategy report.
As a result of the CHNA, three health needs were identified:
- Behavioral health and substance abuse
- Social determinants of health
- Obesity and healthy lifestyles
The opening of the patient food bank directly supports the hospital’s goal of addressing the social determinants of health in the communities we serve.
“We are called to serve all patients, no matter their needs,” said Greg D. Gerard, president of Baptist Health Richmond. “The opening of the patient food bank is one step toward our team’s commitment of addressing food insecurities and partnering with community organizations to ensuring access to services when the need is most urgent.”
The hospital is partnering with God’s Outreach Food Bank to provide this service.
“God’s Outreach is so thankful to have this opportunity to close the gap on hunger by providing immediate emergency good to Baptist Health Richmond patients,” said Anthony Lowery, director of God’s Outreach. “It’s through these community partnerships that we are able to insure that no one goes to bed hungry in Madison County.”
The opening of the patient food bank would not have been made possible without the support of the Baptist Health Foundation Richmond. Through donor generosity to the Patient Assistance Fund, the Foundation has been able to financially support this new program. The Foundation also works with community partners, such as Walmart, who feel called to support this mission.
To learn more about the patient food bank or to support this important initiative, contact the Baptist Health Foundation Richmond at 859.625.3939.