St. Vincent Meals on Wheels and Cedars-Sinai: A Transformative “Food is Medicine” Partnership

The “Food is Medicine” pilot partnership between Cedars-Sinai Hospital and St. Vincent Meals on Wheels (SVMOW) has been pivotal in supporting orthopedic trauma patients during recovery. This program highlights how integrated healthcare and community partnerships can transform patient outcomes.

Clinical social worker Caryn Lindsey, from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, led the preparation for Cedars-Sinai’s search for a partner that shared its holistic vision for patient care. St. Vincent Meals on Wheels emerged as an ideal collaborator due to its person-centered and compassionate approach to client care. “In our search, we discovered that SVMOW’s focus on comprehensive support, where every meal serves as a conduit for connection, encouragement, and healing, made them an ideal partner for this pilot,” Caryn notes.

Launched in early 2024, this pilot program catered to over 50 low-income orthopedic trauma patients, providing them with 12 days of medically-tailored meals during the critical early days of recovery. Meals included Ensure Surgery shakes, selected to bolster recovery and enhance nutritional intake. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with the vast majority of patients completing a survey indicating that the service had a positive impact on their recovery.

Fiona George, a member of the SVMOW social work team, and Veronica Dover, SVMOW’s Executive Director, have been leading this initiative. The pilot program was organized and directed by Caryn Lindsey, with strong support from Katie Hren, Associate Director, and Krystal Green, Program Manager, both part of the Community Connect Program, which is under the Office of Health Equity. The project was guided by Dr. Christina Harris, Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer at Cedars-Sinai. This reflects both organizations’ commitment to addressing the social determinants of health that impact patient well-being.

The partnership addresses challenges like malnutrition and food insecurity by delivering hot meals to patients’ homes, aiding their recovery and easing the burden on caregivers. The success of the program has led to a grant from the Cedars-Sinai Office of Health Equity, with Katie and Krystal’s departments providing ongoing support through additional grant funding directly to SVMOW.

This initiative goes beyond meal delivery, serving as a model for effective community and hospital collaboration to enhance health outcomes. It embodies the “Food is Medicine” philosophy, empowering patients to recover in their homes. SVMOW aims to inspire similar partnerships across communities in need, demonstrating that we can go #BeyondtheMeal to promote health and resilience.