Rust medical center announces 'Food Farmacy' donation program

RIO RANCHO — Health care workers at Presbyterian Rust Medical Center handed out bags of fresh produce to patients and health plan members Friday, marking the start of the “Food Farmacy” at the hospital.

The program, meant to address food insecurity, was founded in 2018 at Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital in Albuquerque in response to feedback from employees who believed their patients were not getting enough nutrients while fighting chronic conditions, according to a news release. “Food Farmacy” expanded in Albuquerque throughout the years before starting in Rio Rancho, said Jenny McCary, director of community health programs for Presbyterian, in an interview.

“The team is really excited to be able to welcome and meet our first patient here at Rust Medical Center,” McCary said. “There seems to be a lot of interest, too, of people just walking by, (saying), ‘What is this, having fresh food out in a space at Rust Medical Center?’”

The produce is made possible through donations from the Presbyterian Foundation and MoGro Mobile Grocery, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit, McCary and other hospital officials said. Bags included not just produce but recipes, too. Hospital officials hope to change produce choices based on the season.

One reason hospital officials started “Food Farmacy” in Rio Rancho is because patients told them the original program was too far away, according to McCary.

“To be able to be closer to where they’re residing is really important,” she said.

Rio Rancho resident Kathy Ferguson was not the first patient to pick up a bag of produce at Rust, but she was nevertheless glad she did. Ferguson, who has diabetes, knew of “Food Farmacy” from her days in Albuquerque before moving to Rio Rancho two months ago.

“I was grateful they called,” Ferguson said, referring to how she heard the program had expanded to Rust.

McCary said food insecurity can be defined as not being able to afford enough healthy food, if at all.

“People are having to decide between healthy foods or medications,” she said.

The choice between those two, particularly in a hospital setting, is all too real for many of the “Food Farmacy” recipients at Rust, McCary said.

“It’s a tradeoff that some people have to figure month to month,” she said. “We know that healthy food can promote health and help prevent complications related to chronic conditions. That’s why we started to use the term, ‘food is medicine.’”

Ferguson said she knows she is “on track” dealing with her diabetes when she utilizes the “Food Farmacy” program.

“I think it’s great; I like a lot of the information they give,” she said. “And the food is — ‘Yum!’”

“Food Farmacy” is available to qualified patients and health plan members from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Friday on the ground floor of the north side of the hospital.