Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Directions for prescriptions from Geisinger’s Fresh Food Pharmacy are as follows: take one at dinner time and do not keep out of reach of children — if possible, offer them seconds.
The pharmacy acts as a food pantry for low-income diabetes patients, who on a weekly basis are provided with a number of free ingredients to prepare condition-conscious meals for themselves and all members of their household. The program is currently in its pilot phase at Geisinger’s Shamokin facility, where food is provided with help from Weis Markets and Degenstein Foundation. Geisinger plans to expand the program to Scranton within a year and Luzerne County soon after, where it will take on a community-based approach, partnering with a number of local organizations including food pantries and wellness centers.
Shamokin resident and diabetes patient Betty Weimart, 60, has been unable to eat according to doctor’s recommendations since becoming unemployed in 1998. After joining the Fresh Food Pharmacy program three months ago, Weimart’s hemoglobin A1C levels — commonly used to assess a diabetic’s condition — fell from 10.9 percent to 6.9 percent. According to Mayo Clinic guidelines, a common target A1C level for diagnosed diabetics is 7 percent. Diabetes is diagnosed at 6.5 percent, while prediabetes is diagnosed between 5.7 percent and 6.4 percent.
Weimart said her daughter and husband also benefit from the Fresh Food Pharmacy and have improved their health as well.
“Once a week they give me meals to last for five days and they give you everything you need,” Weimart said. “They give you recipes (and) they give you everything that you need for the recipes. My daughter has lost weight since following the program with me. My husband and I like to cook together so we cook together and our daughter eats with us.”
Weimart said she has received lean proteins including chicken and turkey, fresh produce and frozen vegetables. The program only provides dinner, but patients undergo a six-week educational series as part of the Fresh Food Pharmacy program that helps them stay on track for the rest of the day. Patients learn how to manage their blood sugar, cope with the condition on an emotional level, read labels and get proper exercise. Program lead Dr. Andrea Feinberg said these extracurriculars are integral to Fresh Food Pharmacy’s success.
“We want them to participate fully, we don’t want to just be another program that provides the food. We want to really help people understand what is the best way to eat, how is the best way to spend your money when you’re buying your food and how to prepare the food healthfully.”
Feinberg said Shamokin was chosen as a testing ground for the program because of the area’s need — more than 20 percent of residents live below the poverty line and 12 percent of residents over age 20 have diabetes. Currently, Fresh Food Pharmacy includes 85 patients and their families. That program will soon expand to 1,000 patients before being replicated in Lewisburg, Sunbury and Scranton.
Geisinger Chief Philantrophy Officer Nancy Lawton-Kluck said Scranton made sense due to its relationships with area organizations like The Wright Center, but Lawton-Kluck said Geisinger “is looking at Luzerne as one of those next places to launch the program.” According to the Center for Disease Control, 7.6 percent of adults in Luzerne County are diagnosed with diabetes and the number of deaths in the county caused by diabetes is above national average.
“We’ll use (the Scranton Fresh Food Pharmacy) as a launch pad for the more community-based approach and then — as soon as we figure out how to work those nuances — move it in front of the contiguous communities with Luzerne being one of them,” Lawton-Kluck said.
