TAMPA, Fla. — BayCare and Feeding Tampa Bay launched a pilot program using medically tailored meals for critically ill patients, including those with diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
The pilot, launched weeks ago, serves a small group of BayCare patients and plans to expand to 40 participants. Patients will be evaluated every 12 weeks to track health improvements.
"This is really the top tier of getting people healthy, which is the medically tailored meal piece. So, we wanted to go after it," said Lisa Bell, director of community benefit for BayCare Health System.
Unlike traditional assistance, eligibility depends on a patient’s medical condition rather than on food insecurity.
"So, patients who are diabetics with an A 1c or blood sugar level over eight, who also have one limit of a daily living limit," Bell told Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska. "Other than that, we need them to have a refrigerator and a freezer, because the meals come frozen, and then a microwave or an oven to heat them up."
The meals are prepared in Feeding Tampa Bay’s kitchen under strict nutritional guidelines developed in collaboration with registered dietitians.
"It has to be nutrient-dense based on the client's needs," explained Managing Chef Doreen Dougherty to Tampa Bay 28. "So, if it's diabetic or gluten-free, or whatever the case may be, it has to be very, very specific. And it's really, really important, because this food is hopefully going to make them well again."
Feeding Tampa Bay leaders say the program addresses a growing healthcare problem by treating food access and nutrition as medical care.
"I’m most proud of us just coming together and saying that this is how we see food insecurity being a healthcare crisis," said Chief Health Officer for Feeding Tampa Bay Kimberly Williams. "And now, how do we approach it in that manner?"
Program leaders say these meals are essential for patients unable to prepare healthy food themselves.
"So, not everyone can do that," said Feeding Tampa Bay Director of Health Programs Ana Camargo. "Not everyone has the physical capability to cook a meal in their own home. Not everyone has the wherewithal to understand what ingredients to put together to make a delicious meal."
The kitchen is currently producing dozens of recipes in bulk as part of the pilot rollout, but plans to expand that to even more as patients come online.
"We actually have 58 recipes that we're doing, and we're doing them in bulk, 90 each," Dougherty said.
BayCare and Feeding Tampa Bay say the pilot took years to develop and hope early outcomes will justify expansion regionally.
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