Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital has opened a food pantry to ensure patients and their families struggling with food insecurity have access to food to help them heal now, and stay healthier as they grow.
The Pantry is located in the Eccles Outpatient Services Building and is part of the Healthy Kids Initiatives.
Janet DeWolf is the Executive Director for the Foundation at Primary Children's Hospital and Children's Healthcare.
She says, "One of our initiatives is healthy kids. And we look at those social determinants of health because that can really define what happens to a child through their health journey. Many children that have food scarcity or any other issues that go on in the home, whether it be violence or housing scarcity, things like that, that can affect their health."
Numbers show that one in nine children go hungry because their families can't afford food.
Providers can recommend patients to the Pantry after a simple screening at any of the 55 clinics.
The Pantry can provide food for up to three days for each member of the family.
Smith's Food & Drug has helped with the Pantry from the concept to the recent opening.
The Primary Pantry is the Zero Hunger Hero from Smith's and Fox 13's The PLACE.
