Achievement Awards Spotlight: Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital

September 13, 2024

HAP's annual Achievement Awards honor hospitals and health systems for their innovation, creativity, and commitment to patient care. The Achievement Awards showcase and share member hospitals’ and health systems’ successful programs and best practices.

This year, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital received the Living the Vision award for its Food Farmacy program that focuses on community health and nutrition.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The opportunity:  The hospital’s community health needs assessment identified access to healthy food and reducing obesity as two important community health needs.
• Why it matters:  Heart disease, cancer, and stroke were leading causes of death in Lancaster County; diet and nutrition are key factors to protect against these chronic diseases.
• Taking action:  The hospital’s Food Farmacy program provides patients with one-on-one nutrition counseling sessions with a registered dietitian and access to healthy food options at a food pantry near their home.
  • The program helps patients implement healthy diet and lifestyle changes to manage and prevent chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, and cancer). 
• Strong results:  From 2019 to 2023, the program has grown to include three dietitians and five Food Farmacy locations.
  • As of mid-2023, the program had served 380 patients and more than 800 family members.
  • The program also had distributed a total of 38,826 pounds of food since it began.
  • About 66 percent of the graduates had improved blood pressure; 71 percent had decreased waist circumference; and 59 percent had experienced weight loss, in addition to other positive health and behavioral outcomes.
• Quotable:  “Our unique partnership with community food pantries connects patients with a reliable food resource near their home and improves the financial sustainability of the program,” the team noted in its entry. “Overall, the Food Farmacy program is promoting equity in health outcomes by removing barriers to healthy eating and improving well-being for patients with chronic health conditions.”

Congratulations to Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital for its outstanding dedication to nutrition and community health. Learn more about the project and see the awards video online.

Questions about the HAP Achievement Awards may be directed to HAP Member Services at (717) 561-5359.