Kaiser Permanente, an integrated health care provider, unveiled its Food is Medicine Center of Excellence on Thursday. The center will make it easier for Kaiser Permanente members to access nutrition interventions and programs.
The food as medicine movement has grown steadily in recent years and is based on the idea that food can be used to prevent, treat and manage health conditions. This includes interventions such as medically tailored meals, food recipes and nutritional advice. According to a press release, Kaiser Permanente’s new Center of Excellence will “combine clinical services, research, education and community engagement.” The organization serves 12.5 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia.
Specifically, the center will help Kaiser Permanente expand food insecurity and nutritional screening of its members and connect them to resources such as federal programs and food banks. Additionally, clinical nutrition education is enhanced through medical curricula and nutrition fellowship support. In addition, new ways to offer nutritional programs to members and conduct research are being developed. Kaiser Permanente will also work with local nonprofits, government agencies and businesses to help improve the nutrition of its members and communities.
“We’re really excited about the focus on our own members, but also how we’re thinking about building the evidence and the research component,” said Dr. Bechara Choucair, senior vice president and chief health officer at Kaiser Permanente. during the organization’s Health Action Summit on Thursday. “We are pleased to be working with our medical schools and ours [graduate medical education] We strive to educate our workforce on food and nutrition. And we’re also excited about how we’re engaging in our communities to improve access to healthy, affordable food.”
Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, welcomed the creation of the Food is Medicine Center of Excellence.
“I am very pleased that you are announcing your Center of Excellence for Food in Medicine today,” he said at the summit. “This is a big issue for us at HHS because we are concerned with a paradigm shift. I tell my team that it is time to move from a system of care that treats illness to one that promotes wellness. And the sooner we get there, the better.”
Kaiser Permanente also announced Thursday that it is committing $2 million to the Share Our Strength organization. The funds will support the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) program, which is the first new permanent federal food assistance program in approximately 50 years, according to the release. Summer EBT provides food benefits to eligible families during the summer, when children are out of school and have less access to school meals.
Kaiser Permanente has increased its food and nutrition efforts in recent years, helping 125,000 members apply for federal food grants, enrolling 2,100 members and providing more than 116,000 medically tailored meals through clinical research studies. In 2022, the country also committed $50 million in line with the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health through 2030.
Several other health organizations are also taking steps in the food-as-medicine movement. Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network have committed $30 million through 2030 to combat food insecurity. In June, Elevance Health hired Dr. Kofi Essel as the first medical director.
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