Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 155

CHAPTER 4 Percentage of GDP Underserved populations include, by definition, the low-income households most at risk of hunger. “Think about how many pill bottles say ‘Take with Food,’” says Petee. “If there is no food in the home, that could slow a patient’s recovery or lead to readmission to the hospital.” In analyzing readmissions, ProMedica discovered that food security issues affected many of its patients.52 Under the Affordable Care Act, hospitals will be penalized for readmissions. Healthcare reform has given doctors and healthcare organizations more reason to focus attention on hunger. It means doctors putting far more emphasis on Figure 4.7 Health and Nonhealth Expenditures of State and Local prevention and wellness. That is a Governments, as a Percent age of Gross Domestic Product good thing, but will it change the 12 way policymakers look at the tools Nonhealth care expenditures at their disposal to promote pre10 vention and wellness? As they take another look at the options, their 8 Health care expenditures eyes should land on the incredible 6 return on investment offered by the federal nutrition programs. 4 Health care is the fastest growing cost in government bud2 gets at any level—federal, state, or 0 local—and officials are well aware 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 2055 2060 of the challenges they face in trying Year to control its costs. According Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office (April 2013), State and Local Government’s to a 2013 report by the U.S. GovFiscal Outlook, April 2013 Update. ernment Accountability Office (GAO), “The primary driver of fiscal challenges for the state and local government sector in the long term continues to be the projected growth in health-related costs.”53 See Figure 4.7. Anything that can slow the rise of healthcare costs should be welcome news. ProMedica’s internal campaign to raise awareness about hunger began by sharing information on the effects of hunger with employees, doctors, and board members. It meant going into healthcare facilities and talking to staff about what they could do at the different touch points in the delivery of care—at admission, in the doctor’s office, over the phone, on a home visit, or during routine procedures like a blood draw.54 “If I’m a nurse,” says Barb Petee, “It’s probably not on my radar to ask the patient if she’s hungry.” Now it is. ProMedica also trains hospital staff to provide information and encouragement for eligible families to apply for SNAP benefits. Petee realized that ProMedica needed to develop an external strategy to match its internal one. She has strengthened relations with partners in local and national anti-hunger infrastructure. She works with national partners like Share our Strength and the Alliance to End Hunger. In Toledo, she is working closely with local partners in the schools and groups involved in emergency feeding programs. These partners recognized the value of what ProMedica could bring to their efforts, and they have welcomed the new partner as more like a gentle giant than the 800-pound gorilla it could be perceived as. The sheer gravity of the www.bread.org/institute? ? 2014 Hunger Report? 145 n