Bassett Partnership with CFP Expands To Support Patients During Pregnancy
COOPERSTOWN—Bassett Healthcare Network’s successful partnership with the Cooperstown Food Pantry is expanding to support pregnant patients facing financial hardship.
Through the “Food is Medicine” program, Bassett partners with the pantry to provide medically-tailored food items to cancer patients and their family members if they are dealing with financial hardship during treatments. According to a press release, now pregnant patients will join cancer patients and receive the same support if they are struggling to afford meals through a “Healthy Families, Healthy Futures” expansion.
The expansion launched at the end of June, with the first pregnant patient receiving non-perishable food items to take home following a medical appointment. Patients now also have access to fresh refrigerated items and frozen items.
“As a midwife caring for families at Bassett, my patients inspired the development of Healthy Families, Healthy Futures. This perinatal food pantry recognizes the important role nutrition plays in health by helping patients access nourishing foods during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Caring for families throughout the transition to parenthood has shown me both their incredible resilience and the challenges that can make accessing resources more difficult,” said Sarah Maylin, CM, RM, MSM, certified nurse midwife at Bassett who led the development of this expansion.
Officials said Women’s Health practitioners at Bassett will screen all prenatal patients for food insecurity during or around the time of their appointment held at the 28-week mark of their pregnancy. If the patient expresses concern about having access to healthy food during pregnancy, the patient will be offered enrollment in the program. After giving birth, the patient can continue to receive food through the program until the six-week postpartum mark.
This expansion is made possible, in part, through the support and generosity of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Chobani®, the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, and the Rotary Club of Cooperstown.
Volunteers from Chobani traveled to the Cooperstown Food Pantry on June 18 to help put together the first 50 packages of food, donated by Chobani, to get the program started. These packages included SuperMilk, a shelf-stable dairy product rich in nutrients. One of Chobani’s most integral philanthropic goals is to bring an end to hunger and food insecurity.
“Food has the power to heal, nurture and bring people together. Chobani is proud to support a program that helps families access nutritious food where they already receive trusted care, creating healthier futures one family at a time,” said Kristie Baker, community impact specialist for Chobani.
Funding in the amount of $2,000.00 was granted to the Food is Medicine Program through the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York (part of Feeding America) and an additional $1,000.00 grant was received from the Rotary Foundation of Cooperstown.
“We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to lead a full, healthy life. Partnerships between healthcare organizations, non-profits and community partners are essential to accomplishing this goal. We are so thankful for the generosity and collaboration of our partners,” said Deanna Varney, director of operations at the Cooperstown Food Pantry.
