Advocate South Suburban helps feed food insecure patients

The Food Farmacy program at Advocate South Suburban Hospital, in Hazel Crest, and Advocate Trinity Hospital, in Chicago, that provides fresh, healthy food for food insecure patients, distributed nearly 50,000 pounds of food this year. The two sites have been visited nearly 1,800 times in 2021 so far.

The program is part of Advocate Aurora Health’s more than $2.5 billion in charitable care and services in 2020, a 16% increase over the previous year. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the health system’s community health efforts shifted and transformed to meet the most urgent needs, while
also remaining committed to its bedrock programs, such as charity care, education, trauma services, behavioral health services and more.

"You can't be healthy without access to healthy food," said Emily Daniels of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which partners with the hospitals on the program. "The Food Farmacy helps increase access to good food, and we're proud to partner with Advocate Aurora Health on this important project."

As the worst pandemic in more than a century hit our communities in early 2020, Advocate Aurora’s team members and resources pivoted to provide critical community support including education and outreach, mobile testing and partnerships with federally qualified health centers, especially as it became clear that COVID-19 disproportionately impacted communities of color. The system enhanced preventive services by increasing access to health education, personal protective equipment and community COVID-19 testing, among other initiatives, including:

• Free COVID-19 testing, flu vaccinations, and free masks distribution and resources at three area community faith partners.
• Imani Green Health Advocates program trained four young people to assist in community health projects.

"Advocate Aurora is not just committed to enhancing the health and wellness of those in our care, but to improving the quality of life for our communities aligned with our purpose to help people live well," President and CEO Jim Skogsbergh said. "The diverse programs we support reflect the changing and varied needs within our neighborhoods as we work to close the health equity gap and amplify our social impact.”

In addition to a robust COVID-19 response, Advocate Aurora’s community health strategy remained focused on services and partnerships that build health equity, ensure access and improve health outcomes. Programs around mental and behavioral health, violence prevention, trauma recovery services, access to care, diabetes and hypertension, maternal health/infant mortality, obesity, substance use, food security, safety and workforce development were top priorities across the system’s footprint in Illinois and Wisconsin.

“The Food Farmacy gives our patients access to healthier food choices without worrying about the cost which has helped improve their health and address food insecurity,” said Melinda Harville, Community Health Team Lead for the Food Farmacy program at Trinity and South Suburban. “We think of the program as ‘Food as Medicine.’”

Advocate Aurora Health is one of the largest providers of community care, outreach and education in Illinois and Wisconsin. Community benefit contributions in 2020 included: ·

• Charity and other uncompensated care that is provided free, at subsidized levels or without full reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid or other government-sponsored programs.
• Subsidized health services that respond to unique community needs, including trauma services, behavioral health services, health screenings, immunization programs, school-based health care and other community outreach programs.
• Community Health Improvement Education Services and Operations including counseling, screenings, support groups, self-help, transportation, health education, school-based health centers, Faith Community Nursing that provides holistic care by connecting patients to spiritual and community resources in addition to health education, and a mobile pediatric clinic and mobile integrated health program that expand access to care beyond hospital settings,, plus many other hospital-based community programs.
• Language assistance and interpreter services, as well as translation for signage, forms, brochures, patient education materials and information in languages other than English.
• Volunteer Services provided by hospital workers who volunteer in their communities and by community members who volunteer at Advocate Aurora hospitals.