Children's Hospital of Philadelphia expanded its food insecurity program by providing families of patients with six months of produce and/or a week of prepared meals, WHYY reported Dec. 2.
The program, which was piloted in July 2023, enables patients who struggle with food access to sign up to be provided with food upon discharge. The prepared meals are chosen from a menu of options. Of 120 eligible families, 59% enrolled in the program. Seventy-seven percent chose to have both prepared meals and produce delivery, 18% opted for only prepared meals and 4% opted for only produce delivery.
In 10 months, the program delivered 6,972 prepared meals and 348 boxes of produce. About 58% of families said that the program met their acute food needs.
This program is available in addition to the community resources that families are connected with, such as food vouchers, and CHOP's on-site food pharmacy where families can grab food for themselves.
About 20% of CHOP patients struggled with food insecurity, according to a 2019 survey.