Licking Memorial Hospital, Food Pantry Network open 2nd market on Newark's McMillen Drive
NEWARK − Health care is no longer limited to the work of doctors and nurses inside the walls of hospitals, doctor’s offices and urgent care facilities.
It’s out in the community, in public transit, affordable housing and food pantries, especially for those living in or near poverty.
“If a community only acknowledges, takes care of, addresses the needs of the most affluent and ignores those that are underserved, it’s not a great community,” Licking Memorial Health Systems President and CEO Rob Montagnese said. “We need to make sure that we take care of the entire community, geographically, economically, spiritually.”
As part of that goal, Licking Memorial Hospital and the Food Pantry Network of Licking County combined to open the Food Pantry Network Market on Tuesday at 130 McMillen Drive, next to the hospital. The Food Pantry Network will provide the food, and hospital volunteers will work at the market.
It is the network's second market, following the January opening of a market at its headquarters, 1035 Brice St., on Newark’s east end.
Food Pantry Network of Licking County Executive Director Chuck Moore credited Licking Memorial and network Development Director Alyssa Shepherd for helping bring the markets to life. By July 1, all 20 food pantries will transition to a market model.
“If the hospital didn’t approach us, this wouldn’t be going on,” Moore said. “We made a drastic change to the entire county because of the hospital’s commitment. This, for us, has really been transformational.
“It was the folks at the hospital who asked us to come out and meet with them to talk about how they could get into the food insecurity business and make sure they had access to food.”
The McMillen Drive market is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The Brice Street market, which set its hours to complement the planned McMillen Drive facility, is open 2-5:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
Eligible customers enter the market, check in at the window near the entrance and provide their demographic information. Then, they are free to shop the market like at a grocery store. Signs show the recommended limit for each item, but that does not appear to be an issue.
Moore said although there are about 50 items of dry goods customers can take, he saw one woman leave with only five or six items.
“They came and got what they needed, and that’s all they took because they know they can come back,” Moore said. “They know they have access. It really opens up that ability to come in and get food when they need it, when they want it, not just when my pantries are open for two hours on this day or two hours on that day.”
They can come to the market once a week but visit other food pantries in between.
Holly Slaughter, a vice president at Licking Memorial and a member of the Food Pantry Network board, said the network serves 5,000 families a month. Those families are eligible for 119 visits a year, but last year the average family visited only eight times.
“Sometimes we hear about concerns of food support programs being abused,” Slaughter said. “These truly are not abused benefits. They’re not over-using. They’re really only going to the food pantry or market when they really have a need.”
The poverty rate in Licking County is about 10%, but another 27% is financially insecure, according to last year's United Way report on Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained and Employed households.
Montagnese said he aims to reduce the life expectancy gap between Licking County communities a few miles apart. U.S. Census data reported in 2018 showed average life expectancy was 84.3 in Granville, 81.4 in Pataskala, 70.7 in east Newark and 69.4 in south Newark.
“In the last few years, we have heard so many different speakers talking about this disparity that exists throughout the entire country," Montagnese said. "And I really felt we have the ability to impact that here in Licking County, probably more so than those larger cities.
“We serve all of Licking County, so we know the variation isn’t necessarily the health care provided. It could be accessibility or availability to that. I’m confident and really excited this will improve the health of the community.”
Ben Broyles, vice president at Licking Memorial, said transportation, like food insecurity, can provide another hurdle to a healthy lifestyle,
“Oftentimes in health care, those with transportation barriers miss or delay healthcare appointments, don’t fill prescriptions and ultimately have poor health outcomes," Broyles said.
Licking Memorial has responded to that need with its own ride program, providing more than 1,300 rides in 2023 and financial support for the Licking County Transit fixed routes. The Main Street route had 4,265 riders in the first six months.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Licking Memorial Hospital, Food Pantry Network open 2nd Newark market
