KentuckyOne Health in Berea and London Teams up With God’s Pantry Food Bank to Provide Food to Patients in Need - Archived

Lexington, Ky. (January 2, 2019) — KentuckyOne Health has teamed up with God’s Pantry Food Bank to fund a pilot program that will provide immediate food assistance for patients in emergent need at Saint Joseph London and Saint Joseph Berea. As part of the partnership, KentuckyOne Health will have food baskets on hand at the two facilities, as well two health clinics in London and one health clinic in Berea.

“We are very excited about this and humbled that we will be able to assist our patients to meet a basic human need,” said Neva Francis, Vice President, Healthy Communities, KentuckyOne Health.

KentuckyOne Health identified Berea and London through screenings for social determinants of health – basic human needs – as two locations where incremental hunger-relief services would provide more timely aid to residents who are seeking access to food. The screenings are part of the work KentuckyOne is doing through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant.

“Nutritious food helps improve health. Patients experiencing hunger or food insecurity may experience issues like prolonged recovery times that potentially increase medical costs,” said Michael Halligan, CEO, God’s Pantry in Lexington. “Working with Saint Joseph London and Saint Joseph Berea to identify those who are hungry will allow intervention and access to nutritious food.”

The emergency food baskets contain cans of vegetables and fruit, pasta sauce, boxes of pasta, milk, cereal, soup and crackers.

God’s Pantry Food Bank also recently initiated an emergency food box program in Lexington at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

For more information on this pilot program, call 859.255.6592.

About Saint Joseph London
Saint Joseph London is a 120-bed full service hospital located in London, KY. The current $152 million regional hospital opened in 2010 featuring the latest technology along with nationally ranked, award-winning services. All patient rooms are private, with most overlooking a small lake and garden on the 52-acre healing environment. Saint Joseph London was founded in 1926 and treats patients from southeastern Kentucky, including those from Clay, Laurel, Jackson, Whitley, Knox and Pulaski counties.

About Saint Joseph Berea
Saint Joseph Berea is a 25-bed critical access hospital located in Berea, KY. It serves the residents of Madison, Estill, Garrard, Jackson and Rockcastle counties. Established in 1898, on the grounds of Berea College, Saint Joseph Berea recognizes the importance of family, friends and familiar surroundings in the healing process and provides a breadth of services so that getting first-rate care doesn’t have to mean being far from home.

About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health, part of Catholic Health Initiatives, is one of the largest and most comprehensive health systems in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and includes hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.

About God’s Pantry Food Bank
The mission of God’s Pantry Food Bank is to reduce hunger in Kentucky through community cooperation making the best possible use of all available resources. Along with our network of nearly 400 partner pantries and programs the Food Bank serves 50 counties of Central and Eastern Kentucky distributing $100 worth of food for every $10 donated. Last year, God’s Pantry Food Bank and its partner agencies distributed more than 34.4 million pounds of groceries to more than 190,000 individuals, including 13 million pounds of fresh produce. For more information visit us at www.godspantryfoodbank.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information:
Mary Branham, Director, Communications
P: 859.313.2642
[email protected]