Feeding Hope

Amid Arkansas’ food insecurity crisis, Baxter Health works to support discharged patients in need, embodying a commitment to community care and health equity

The news that landed late last year was shocking — Arkansas, a state where agriculture was the leading economic driver, that led the nation in rice production and was home to one of the biggest food processors in the world, was also the hungriest state in the nation.

According to statistics reported in November by the USDA Economic Research Service, an average of 16.6% of Arkansas households were food insecure between 2020 and 2022, more than any other U.S. state and nearly five percentage points over the national average. More sobering still, 20% of Arkansas’ children, one out of every five, lived in food-insecure households.

Unlike many people, Lilian Browne wasn’t surprised at the numbers. As a social worker for Baxter Health, she regularly comes face to face with patients who are leaving the hospital to return to empty cupboards and bare refrigerators.

“This has always been an issue in our community and every community, probably,” she said. “Food insecurities are a big problem, and not all the population that we serve qualifies for SNAP benefits. They can be helped by the local food banks one time, but after that, they have certain criteria that they have to meet to be able to receive help.”

Browne said other restrictions and issues with existing organizations led her to conceive of an idea to establish a food closet at the hospital to serve patients who needed it after being discharged. She found ready allies in the idea, fellow employees who not only saw it as the right thing to do but as a way for Baxter Health to live out its Health Equity mandate. Health Equity, a requirement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, compels health providers to examine health issues within their communities and to develop strategies for meeting them across the board.

“We’ve been tasked by CMS to ensure that we are assessing our patients for social determinants of health, and one of those buckets is food insecurity,” said Tammy Penka, director of quality at Baxter Health. “Last year, we formed a health equity steering committee, and one of our initiatives has been to put together a food and hunger resource guide, which has taken a lot of effort through lots of different people within our organization.”

The food closet became a reality last fall and since opening has served 85 patients. Browne said the program provides food that accommodates other issues patients may be facing.

“Our goal here is to be able to meet that immediate food insecurity,” she said. “Oftentimes, people get bags of food that don’t necessarily include things patients need. For example, bags included certain things that patients couldn’t chew if they didn’t have any teeth. They might have had things that needed to be cooked or had cans that couldn’t be opened because they didn’t come with a can opener. Well, if I’m homeless, if I don’t have a home, I don’t have a way to cook or to open anything.”

Funds for the project come from the Friends Fund, a pool of money to which most employees contribute to help address various causes and emergency assistance.

“The organization has an employee fund drive every year, and our employees, probably 75% to 80% of them, give to the fund,” said Sue Rodden, director of continuity care. “The Continuity of Care Department, which houses the social workers and discharge planners, is gifted with a sum of money every year to help. Now, as opposed to setting up a separate food bucket, if you will, we can get a little bit of extra cash from that entity, if needed. So in that way, all employees who contribute to the fund are helping to combat food insecurity in the community.”

Penka said the success of the food closet has inspired the Health Equity Committee to consider similar initiatives. A “blessing box” is in the works, a walk-up resource for people who need supplies, food or even medical supplies.

“That project is in the works, and we’re hoping to have that completed this fall on the hospital campus,” she said. “I think it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to address the needs of the community and show how our organization cares for the community and is there to support people who need it.”