The Sun River Health Research Committee recently released the results of their year-long food insecurity study at the Martin Luther King Health Center in Wyandanch. They discovered that throughout the first year of the pandemic, food insecurity affected 63% of Sun River Health patients. This number, which is almost four times the state’s average rate of food insecurity, has enforced how important Sun River Health’s food security programs are to the patients we serve.
Sun River Health provider and one of the leaders of this study, Tammie Kwong, DO, remarked, “Looking at the data, I was shocked to see how high the rate of food insecurity was in Wyandanch. For the first time, I understood the challenges that my patient population faces. There is also hesitation and fear around accessing government resources, like WIC, due to immigration status or other legal repercussions.”
In addition to the study on Long Island, Hudson Valley patients in need have been receiving boxes of fresh produce through a partnership with Feeding Westchester. The Research Committee remarked “Food insecurity screening is in full swing at our health centers in Yonkers and Peekskill, with fresh produce boxes being given out to those who test positive for food insecurity there. It is our hope that this screening will be extended to all our health centers soon.”
