Tag: Trinity Health Michigan

Food as Medicine: How Trinity Health Is Advancing Health Through Nutrition

Member News, MHA Rounds

This article is published in observance of National Nutrition Month.

Byline: Katelyn Smoger, director, Food is Medicine and The Farm, Trinity Health Michigan

Food is Medicine. Health by Food. ProduceRx. The integration of healthy food into healthcare is gaining attention under many names, but the message remains the same: access to healthy foods as a part of care.

Programs such as produce prescriptions, healthy food packs and medically tailored meals are gaining attention as cost-effective ways to treat and prevent diet-related chronic illnesses.

In Michigan, 55% of residents have a diet-related chronic condition, and nearly 20% are managing that condition while living below 200% of the federal poverty level. In 2026, that income is less than $30,000 for a single adult. Economic instability, food insecurity, limited access to transportation and housing instability are all factors that affect overall health.

Trinity Health Michigan’s Food is Medicine program, a core pillar of community health and well-being, combines social and clinical care by offering locally grown food to patients experiencing food or nutrition insecurity or managing a diet-related chronic disease. This integration addresses underlying barriers to good health while improving outcomes, reducing the cost of care and enhancing the patient experience.

Our program operates out of three locations: Muskegon, Pontiac and Ypsilanti. Each location offers five core areas of integration, offering providers, patients and community members a range of interventions that meet them where they are.

Produce to Patients

Food produced at the hospital-based farm is donated to clinical partners. In 2025, 30,000 lbs. of food was harvested at The Farm and distributed to clinical partners, becoming a tool for providers to have authentic, human-centered conversations about healthy eating and access to food, while supporting improved health screenings. Patients identified with food-related needs are then referred to the Food is Medicine team within Epic, where they can access additional resources.

Client Choice, On Campus Food Pantries

Offering healthy food items such as dairy, shelf-stable proteins, dry goods, fruits and vegetables at campus food pantries creates opportunities for patients and community members to eat a nutritious diet regardless of their economic situation. Pantries can be accessed by recipients themselves or supported by acute care teams, ensuring that there is food available at discharge for patients in need. The food pantries were shopped more than 6,000 times in 2025.

Farm Markets

In-season, weekly markets offer fresh, local food for purchase, creating access points for high-quality fruits and vegetables in communities identified by the USDA as having limited access by foot or vehicle. In addition to cash, credit and payroll, the market also accepts SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks and Produce Prescriptions.

Education

Education and engagement are interwoven throughout Food is Medicine. Nutrition education, medical resident rotations, youth education and field trips, workshops and weekly engagement tables make Food is Medicine programming fun, approachable and meaningful, keeping children and adults alike trying new foods and developing an understanding of how those foods impact their health.

The Farm Share

A weekly box of locally grown produce is offered to participating members from April through December. Designed to make Food is Medicine accessible, The Farm Share offers nine types of membership, a five-day pick-up window and a weekly newsletter that includes healthy recipes, information on the farmers and storage tips. In 2025, nearly 900 unique members participated in the program across the state. More than 60% of those members received the program at no cost after being screened for food insecurity. A 2024 evaluation of the program, funded by The Michigan Health Endowment Fund, found that participants’ food security increased by 125%.

Food is Medicine programs can serve as economic drivers that support and strengthen the communities we serve when implemented in ways that prioritize the procurement and distribution of locally grown food. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ In lieu of services policy, which offers food and nutrition services to eligible Medicaid enrollees, is among the first in the nation to require Medicaid Health Plans to utilize local vendors participating in the Michigan food economy. From Farm to FIM, a recent report published by The Rockefeller Foundation identified that Food is Medicine programs in Michigan have the potential to add 13,330 jobs and more than $2 billion to the state’s gross domestic product.

As Food is Medicine programs are implemented across the state, I encourage healthcare leaders to recognize the opportunity at hand: clinical integration, cross-sector collaboration and community-based partnerships can transform how the world thinks about and participates in healthcare.

The MHA Community Benefit Collaborative for combating Chronic Disease is using the Food Is Medicine program model to address barriers identified through Community Health Needs Assessments and improve health outcomes for Michiganders.

Hospitals Help: Trinity Health Initiative Expands Access to Lifesaving Narcan Vending Machines

Member News, Hospitals Help
The teams at Trinity Health Michigan lead training sessions for staff and residents to increase awareness, reduce stigma and build confidence in overdose response.

In response to the opioid epidemic, four Trinity Health hospitals — Livonia, Oakland, Livingston and Ann Arbor — launched a regional initiative to expand access to Narcan (naloxone), a lifesaving medication that reverses opioid overdoses. Through the installation of free Narcan vending machines, these hospitals are providing 24/7 access to a critical resource that can restore breathing and prevent fatal outcomes during overdose emergencies.

At Trinity Health Oakland, community health workers play a pivotal role in the success of this initiative. Their deep connections within the community enabled strategic placement of the vending machine in a high-need area and guidance on outreach and education efforts. They also lead training sessions for staff and residents to increase awareness, reduce stigma and build confidence in overdose response.

Since its installation in March 2025, the unit has played a critical role in potentially saving 76 lives — a powerful testament to the importance of accessible intervention tools and community engagement. At the other Trinity Health Southeast Michigan hospitals — Livonia, Livingston and Ann Arbor — the Narcan vending machines were deployed through the efforts of community health and well-being directors, who identified key locations and coordinated implementation to ensure broad access across the region. By removing barriers to access and empowering individuals with the tools and knowledge to respond to opioid overdoses, the program is saving lives and improving well-being across Southeast Michigan.

“This work is deeply personal,” said Chiquita Berg, MD, MBA, FACOG, vice president of community, health and well-being, Trinity Health Michigan. “I’ve seen the heartbreak that substance use disorder brings and I’ve also seen the strength it takes to recover. At Trinity Health Michigan, we’re committed to meeting people with compassion, not judgment. Through bold leadership and trusted partnerships, we’re creating pathways to healing and sending a clear message: every life is worth saving, and every person deserves a future filled with hope.”

To read more positive hospital stories, check out more Hospitals Help webpage and the 2025 Community Impact Report. Members with questions may contact Lucy Ciaramitaro at the MHA.

House Insurance Committee Hears Testimony on Bill to Protect 340B

Member News
Maureen D’Agostino, vice president of accreditation and regulatory CMS programs and provider and facility enrollment at McLaren Health Care testifying during The House Insurance and Financial Services Committee.

The House Insurance and Financial Services Committee convened June 5 to hear testimony on House Bill (HB) 5350, introduced by Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn), which would protect access to affordable prescription drugs and healthcare services through the 340B Prescription Drug Pricing Program.

Testimony began with Marc Corriveau, JD, MHSA, vice president of corporate government affairs at Henry Ford Health, providing an overview of how savings from the 340B program allow vulnerable, uninsured patients to receive medical and behavioral healthcare services at little to no cost.

Sean Gehle, vice president of advocacy at Trinity Health Michigan, followed with additional examples of how the 340B program allows qualified safety net providers to extend scarce federal resources. Specifically, Gehle noted that the health system is able to provide financial assistance for prescription medications to patients in need.

Next, Ben Frederick, associate vice president of advocacy and government relations and Joseph Munroe, director of pharmacy at Memorial Healthcare, shared the impact the 340B Drug Pricing Program has in rural communities. Together, Frederick and Munroe explained how the program makes it possible for patients to receive routine and specialty care close to home including obstetrics, oncology, behavioral health and neurology care services.

Last to provide testimony was Maureen D’Agostino, vice president of accreditation and regulatory CMS programs and provider and facility enrollment at McLaren Health Care. D’Agostino overviewed how savings from the 340B program have helped McLaren offer comprehensive care for substance use disorder, cancer treatments and more. D’Agostino was accompanied by Deidra Wilson, vice president of government affairs at McLaren.

The MHA continues to advocate for the 340B program and uplift efforts by Michigan hospitals to expand access to quality, community-based care. Members with questions should contact Elizabeth Kutter at the MHA.

MHA CEO Report — Implementing Behavioral Health Solutions

Issues in Healthcare, Top Issues - Healthcare, MHA Rounds
MHA Rounds graphic of Brian Peters

“If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Behavioral health is one of the four key strategic pillars for the MHA this program year. The MHA Board of Trustees tasked our association with prioritizing the issue and to identify solutions that can make a meaningful difference for patients and providers. This issue is particularly important to current MHA Board Chair Shannon Striebich, president and CEO of Trinity Health Michigan, who specifically focused on this topic during her opening remarks as chair during the 2023 MHA Annual Meeting last June. At Chair Striebich’s direction, the MHA team is hard at work on a variety of initiatives that I’m happy to share.

The MHA Behavioral Health Integration Council, chaired by Linda Peterson, MD, from McLaren Greater Lansing, and staffed by Lauren LaPine, senior director, legislative and public policy, MHA, guides our policy efforts for behavioral and physical health integration. The council develops recommendations addressing access to behavioral healthcare services and fostering integration with the greater healthcare delivery system. Their agendas are robust and the member engagement is fantastic.

The MHA collects data through a weekly survey of our member hospitals to better understand and document our behavioral health challenges in real time. This data shows more than 150 patients, including children, are sitting in a Michigan hospital emergency department (ED) every day waiting for the appropriate healthcare services. Many are waiting for an available behavioral health bed, while one-third are waiting just for an evaluation to determine treatment needs. And many of these patients are the most vulnerable in our community, supported by Medicaid or Medicare. Unfortunately, we know 33% of the Medicaid patients will spend more than 48 hours waiting in the ED. These patients are not in the appropriate setting to receive the services and care they need, while hospitals are spending significant resources to care for these patients until they find placement. This includes anything from attending to basic needs, including food and clothing, to their clinical needs, whether that is through psychiatric services, prescription drugs and additional safety and facility needs.

With the council’s encouragement, the MHA last year was successful in securing new funding from the state in the amount of $50 million to support a competitive grant program for Michigan healthcare entities to expand access to pediatric inpatient behavioral health services. The MHA was the fiduciary of this program and disseminated the funding to our members in a timely fashion.

The MHA is an advocacy organization, and in addition to funding like this, the concept of identifying public policy that can help to address specific healthcare challenges is one of our core competencies. In that vein, we worked very hard with our members, and subsequently with our legislative champions, to draft and introduce important behavioral health legislation. We are very pleased that just last month, several bills were formally introduced that will address some of the challenges hospitals experience when behavioral health patients seek care in the ED. The four bills would require sharing the availability of community based mental health and substance use disorder services (Senate Bill 802), expanding pre-admission screening responsibilities in the ED to more clinically qualified staff (Senate Bill 806), expanding hospital swing bed eligibility to include inpatient behavioral health patients (Senate Bill 811) and removing arbitrary commercial insurance limitations on the duration of inpatient behavioral health admissions (Senate Bill 833).

These bills will be a focus for our advocacy and policy teams for the remainder of this legislative session. We developed an infographic that is now available and will be shared with lawmakers to help them understand the significance of the behavioral health crisis, but also the solutions that can help patients receive the care they need in a timely manner, while alleviating the stress placed on healthcare workers and hospitals.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is a key partner in this work and the MHA is engaged with the MDHHS on several initiatives. First is collaborating with the MDHHS to create a statewide psychiatric bed registry, as outlined in state law signed in 2018. Such a registry has the potential to better inform healthcare providers of bed availability to reduce the amount of time patients are waiting to receive available placement. The MHA is also participating in a committee to improve behavioral health patient transport. Lastly, our organizations are working closely to expand access to Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs), with the aim to establish 150 PRTF beds across the state.

The MHA also represents the interests of hospitals and health systems in several workgroups. Those include the Michigan Judicial Council Behavioral Health Improvements Workgroup to develop new strategies to divert adults and youth with mental health and substance use disorders away from the justice system and to connect them with needed behavioral health services. The MHA also participates in the Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) Workgroup, which developed an AOT toolkit for courts, community mental health agencies, jails and hospitals and health systems to use to expand statewide access to AOT. These workgroups demonstrate the breadth of the MHA’s work and the number of stakeholders involved across the state on this issue.

We know our behavioral health challenges will not be solved overnight, and it would be easy to throw up our hands and shift our attention and energy to “easier” issues.  Many behavioral health patients have complex needs that require many partners working together to fill in the gaps within the system and to improve access to care. The good news is there has never been a brighter light shined on this issue, and the stigma associated with behavioral health challenges is beginning to fade. The MHA is proud to work with our member hospitals and all our partners in this critical work, and I am confident that we are making a real difference. As Dr. King encouraged, we need to keep moving.

As always, I welcome your thoughts.