Healthcare Design - September 2022 - 47

the center
Architex ................................................... C4
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Carolina .....................................................1
Center for Health Design................................8
DeepStream Designs ...................................23
EFA Conference + Expo...............................42
Enduratex ..................................................16
Forbo Flooring ...........................................23
HCD Conference + Expo .............................17
HCD Forum .................................................7
HD Expo ..................................................46
HealthPoint ...............................................34
Interface Americas ........................................5
Krug ........................................................31
Kwalu ..................................................... C2
La-Z-Boy Healthcare | Knú Comfort ................12
modularArts ...............................................15
Nassimi ..............................................10, 11
Pineapple Contracts ......................................2
RFID .........................................................38
Tarkett ..................................................... C3
The index to advertiser page numbers is published for
reader convenience. Every effort is made to list page
numbers correctly. The listing is not part of the advertising
contract and the publisher is not responsible for errors
or omissions.
Holistic solutions that couple built environments
with community programs can help support
population health efforts By Debra Levin
T
HE AMERICAN HOSPITAL
Association's Committee
on Performance Improvement
prioritizes population
health as a must-do strategy
for hospitals and health systems
if they are to succeed
in a dynamic and changing
care environment. Often these efforts include
nontraditional programs and efforts outside
of the conventional hospital setting to educate
the general public, especially vulnerable patient
populations, and support community health
and wellness needs.
During The Center for Health Design's Built
Environment Network (BEN) annual summer
meeting, hosted by Boston Medical Center
(BMC), members were able to hear firsthand
the successful efforts BMC has made over the
years to positively impact the health and wellbeing
of its community. BMC is the largest
safety-net hospital and Level 1 trauma center in
New England and a longstanding BEN member.
During the meeting, BMC shared insight into its
work and how it's pivoted during the COVID-19
pandemic to push for even better outcomes at a
time when the need was even greater.
In 2001, as part of its annual capital program,
BMC launched the Nourishing Our Community
effort as a way to provide access to nutritious
food and educational programming. The organization's
three-pronged approach to combat
food insecurity in its community includes:
* Growing fresh produce at a rooftop farm on
the main hospital campus. The food is prescribed
by physicians just as conventional
medicine is, based on the unique needs of every
patient including their family members.
Each year, the BMC garden produces 6,000 to
7,000 pounds of vegetables.
* Providing culturally and nutritionally appropriate
food from an on-site therapeutic
food pantry located within the medical center.
Each patient gets the supplies needed for
five days of meals for a family, and patients
work with pantry employees to gather the
physician-prescribed ingredients and bag
them as a way to take pride in the experience
and separate it from a traditional community
food bank. Also, the food is tracked and part of
a person's medical record.
* Offering culinary and nutrition education
classes. These are taught virtually from a hospital-based
teaching kitchen and made widely
available online to help people maximize the
benefits of the foods provided.
Because of the constraints brought on by
COVID-19, BMC realized it needed to adapt
its effort to continue to provide access to food
and nutritional education and help combat the
social isolation that resulted from pandemicrelated
safety and distancing precautions.
It started a home delivery service in August
2020 to ensure the food would continue to get
to patients. Serving more than 7,000 people
a month, the program has been so successful
that the organization plans to continue the
virtual classes and food delivery, even after the
pandemic subsides.
A unique feature is that the entire program is
funded through philanthropy. Additionally, it
falls under BMC's capital building budget because
the organization sees it as an extension
of its facilities department. It's this kind of outside-the-box
thinking -looking at community
health initiatives under the umbrella of facilities,
design, and construction-that can bring
design professionals into the larger conversation
around population health and help them to
share such examples with their clients.
Creating holistic solutions where built environments
couple with community programs
to reach more people where they live will help
to create the best possible health outcomes for
both individuals and communities. 
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center for
Health Design. She can be reached at DLEVIN@
HEALTHDESIGN.ORG .
SEP TEMBER 2022
47
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