Together, Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica and the AARP Foundation are launching a new nonprofit organization whose main objective will be to advocate for programs, policies and research that will eliminate hunger, food insecurity and health disparities.
The organization, called The Root Cause Coalition, will address hunger and other social determinants of health and will work to create a sustainable national framework for addressing these issues. Members of the coalition will focus on engaging private sector leaders and the healthcare community as a whole.
Recent studies have linked hunger and food insecurity to considerable financial burdens to the healthcare system, yet nearly 50 million Americans (or 14.1 percent of American households) were food insecure — meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life — in 2014.
"It's time to completely rethink how our organizations serve the needs of patients and communities and make fundamental changes in the healthcare delivery system," said Randy Oostra, ProMedica president and CEO. "Hunger is a dire public health concern and healthcare providers are seeing more evidence of it every day. Industry collaboration is more critical than ever before to tackle this crisis and improve health outcomes throughout our nation."
To learn more about The Root Cause Coalition and its aims, click here.
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