Presbyterian planning community health center
Kitchen, garden, ‘food pharmacy’ to open at Kaseman
Presbyterian Healthcare Services has announced it will open a community health resource center at one of its hospitals in April.
The center at the Presbyterian Kaseman campus, located off Interstate 40 in the northeast quadrant of the city, will include a teaching kitchen, meeting space, community garden and “food pharmacy”: a space stocked with fresh produce and healthy, shelfstable items for individuals with limited access to such resources.
Renovations on the 4,869-square-foot building where the center will be housed will begin next month. The food pharmacy opened earlier this year near the site and will move into the center once improvements are complete.
“This has been a vision of ours for a while,” said Leigh Caswell, director of the Presbyterian Center for Community Health. “We want to continue to meet our community where it’s at, and have a place where we can focus on some of the social determinants of health.”
Caswell said the center will house many programs that support her department’s core priorities: encouraging healthy eating and active living and preventing substance abuse. Some of those programs include chronic disease self-management courses, mental health first aid classes and resources for employment, education, transportation and housing.
Most of the center’s resources will be available to the general public regardless of whether they are a Presbyterian member, though Caswell said the food pharmacy program requires a referral from a Presbyterian provider.
Within a two-mile radius of the center are more than 14,000 children and 3,4000 seniors living in poverty, according to information provided by Presbyterian. Thirteen percent of residents in the area have diabetes, and 33 percent have high blood pressure.
Caswell said her department completes a community health assessment every three years in the areas where Presbyterian’s hospitals are located. She said those assessments are used to identify strengths and priorities for improving the health of the communities served by Presbyterian.