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Virtua Health Targets Food Insecurity with 'Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store'

Analysis  |  By Melanie Blackman  
   December 31, 2020

Virtua Health CEO Dennis Pullin, FACHE shares how the health system is driving its mission through community food access programs.

New Jersey–based Virtua Health is living up to its "be well, get well, stay well" mission through the creation and implementation of food access programs for their communities.

The health system unveiled its new Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store in October, adding to the list of food access programs that Virtua offers, including their Food Farmacy and Mobile Farmers Market.

In November, the five-hospital health system finalized the certifications, permits, and license plates needed to make the converted bus road-ready and shopper-ready. The Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store is scheduled to hit the streets this winter to give the health organization's communities access to healthy foods.

"The Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store is a part of our overall food access program, which is called ‘Eat Well.’ The reason behind that Eat Well name is Virtua has a simple mission to help you be well, get well, and stay well," Dennis W. Pullin, FACHE, president and CEO of Virtua, said in a recent interview with HealthLeaders. "In order to achieve this, you must eat well."

Pullin detailed where the idea for the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store came from, how the health system was able to bring the idea to life, and how other health systems can implement their own food access programs.

"For Virtua, our brand promise is about being here for good. And I think that us being able to provide this, is perhaps the greatest expression of our commitment to being here for good in this community," Pullin said. "When you can play a part in helping to feed a community, what greater mission can you have?"

This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

HealthLeaders: Why is it important for hospitals and health systems to focus on food access for the communities they serve?

Dennis Pullin: As a health system and as health professionals, we know that poor eating habits can result in many health complications, things such as hypertension and diabetes. And so, I believe the role of a healthcare organization is not only to care for the sick, but it's also to proactively prevent people from becoming sick in the first place. We have an obligation to create communities of wellness, and one of the surest ways to achieve that is to help people eat well, and improve their overall access to healthy foods.

In many of our neighborhoods, the residents face food insecurities. Anywhere between 12% to 15% of the residents don't know where their next meal is coming from. We know that a lack of affordable healthy foods is a barrier, as well as transportation.

The pandemic has heightened food insecurities as well as health disparity, so the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store is a way that will help us to bring nutritious, affordable foods in the neighborhoods that experience these hardships.

HL: Virtua Health officially unveiled the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store in October. Can you explain how the mobile grocery store will work?

Pullin: We had a rollout celebration at our new food district distribution center in October, and obviously the pandemic required us to keep it short and simple, but it was still a great day. Tammy Murphy, who is New Jersey's First Lady joined us, as well as many other elected officials, and community stakeholders.

When it's officially up and running, the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store will offer a lot of things that you would find in a traditional supermarket including fruits, vegetables, refrigerated and frozen items, and pantry staples such as rice, beans, and grains.

We're trying to emphasize healthy foods, as well as those that are culturally prevalent foods. People tend to embrace things that they're familiar with, so it's important that we have familiar foods for the people that will take advantage of it.

HL: Where did the idea for the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store come from?

Pullin:  At Virtua, we strive to have a meaningful presence in the communities we serve. And to do that, we conduct a community health assessment every three years which allows us to hear firsthand from the people about their areas of greatest needs.

Food insecurity emerged as a persistent and deeply rooted problem, which helped us to create our Food Farmacy as well as our Mobile Farmers Market.

The more involved we became in addressing hunger, the more we realized just how pervasive and complex this challenge is. We encountered people that struggle every day with providing for their family. I also felt compelled to expand our efforts, and that's how the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store came about. It was just a natural step in our evolution.

HL: What steps were needed to launch this program?

Pullin: We are a not-for-profit organization, so we rely upon the support of various stakeholders. And to get this program off the ground, we had three groups that I think deserve recognition.

We received a tremendous amount of philanthropic support from several sources, ranging from major corporations, to individuals that share our passion for addressing hunger.

We had two of our elected officials who became excited about this program for what it could do for their constituents. United States Congressman Donald Norcross, and New Jersey State Senator Troy Singleton, both of which provided a tremendous amount of support in helping this to get off the ground.

And then the New Jersey Transit Authority, who agreed to donate a decommissioned bus for the cause.

HL: What communities do you plan to bring this service to?

Pullin: We support several counties in South Jersey, and two of those counties, Camden County and Burlington County, [have] a tremendous number of individuals that identify as having food insecurities, or openly admit that they have concerns about where their next meal would come from.

We're going to focus on those two communities initially. It's my hope to expand by taking a look at what we feel are some of our most vulnerable counties and addressing them first.

HL: What is your advice for hospitals and health system executives who want to roll out a program like this?

Pullin: The first thing would be to listen to the communities in which they serve.

It's important to be authentic, and in being authentic, you have to allow the people that you want to impact to contribute to the ideas and what you're trying to do. It'll create a more informed end product, and there will be a sense of "I" in that it's just not a Virtua program, it belongs to everyone.

I would also recommend that they try and create an enjoyable, inviting shopping experience. We take great pride in this program, and in turn, I want the shoppers to feel pride when they see our Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store on the streets. It's not just about the service we offer, it's about how the experience makes people feel.

It is not a pantry. It's an opportunity to bring healthy options, high quality food, at a subsidized price, but also in a manner in which people can feel good about what they're doing.

Editor's note: This story was updated on January 4, 2021.

“We have an obligation to create communities of wellness, and one of the surest ways to achieve that is to help people eat well, and also improve their overall access to healthy foods.”

Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.

Photo credit: Virtua Health President and CEO, Dennis Pullin, FACHE, in front of the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store. (Photo courtesy of Virtual Health)


KEY TAKEAWAYS

Virtua Health unveiled its new food access program, the Eat Well Mobile Grocery Store, in October.

The health system will focus on serving communities in the food deserts located in southern New Jersey, where the mobile grocery store will make scheduled stops.


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