Trinity Health Food is Medicine
Trinity Health Food is Medicine, a core pillar of Community Health and Well-being, integrates social and clinical care by providing locally grown food to patients experiencing nutrition insecurity or managing diet-related chronic conditions. This approach targets key drivers of health disparities while improving outcomes, reducing costs, and enhancing patient experience.
Trinity Health Food is Medicine operates in three locations—Muskegon, Pontiac, and Ypsilanti. Each site offers integrated service areas, connecting providers, patients, and community members with a range of interventions designed to meet individuals’ needs at any point in their health journey.
We offer a spectrum of Food is Medicine programs:
- Farm Share - weekly produce box with locally sourced items, recipes, and newsletter
- Farm Stands - vegetables, fruits, and other healthy foods available weekly
- Food Pantries - healthy, on-campus food pantries to address immediate food needs
- Produce to Patients - Food grown at The Farm available at local clinics for providers to engage in more authentic conversations around food security with their patients
Patients and community members also have access to culinary nutrition education through a variety of programming:
- Nutrition & Social Care – classes available for Medicaid participants enrolled in the Farm Share Assistance program. This six-week course combines social care and nutrition education to build confidence in preparing easy, nutritious meals and improving health and well-being.
- Field Trips – includes hands-on farm activities and opportunities to try fresh vegetables
- Summer Camps - weekly camps offered for a variety of age groups
- Cooking Workshops – offered throughout the year for community members to learn about
- Cooking with Plants - virtual, monthly cooking classes led by a dietitian (in partnership with Lifestyle Medicine)
- Nutrition Buddies – collaborative cooking and nutrition education for middle-school students and medical residents (in partnership with Lifestyle Medicine)
For more information about Trinity Health’s Food is Medicine programs, please contact the Farm or the Lifestyle Medicine Department.
Our Locations
McLaughlin Grows Urban Farm at Trinity Health Muskegon
175 E Larch Ave
Muskegon, MI 49442
In Lieu of Services
In Lieu of Services (ILOS) is a Michigan Medicaid program that helps patients get healthy food and nutrition support when it can improve their health. These services are offered at no cost to those who qualify.
What does this mean for Medicaid Patients?
- You may qualify for nutrition services like:
- Medically-tailored home-delivered meals
- Healthy home-delivered meals
- Healthy Food Packs
- Produce Prescriptions
- These services are meant to help you stay healthy and manage your medical conditions.
- Using ILOS services does NOT change your Medicaid benefits - your coverage stays the same whether you use these services or not.
Your Medicaid provider (i.e. health insurance company) is responsible for deciding whether you can receive ILOS services. If you qualify, they will connect you with an organization that provides the service. Your doctor can send a request to your health plan if they think these services would help you. You can also call your health plan directly to ask if you qualify.
To learn more about ILOS, visit Michigan In Lieu of Services.
Trinity Health’s ILOS Cooperative Network Pilot Project
Supported by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, Trinity Health is ready to work with Medicaid Health Plans (MHPs) to deliver food and nutrition services to patients. Trinity Health has over a decade of experience addressing community health needs through food access and nutrition education programming.
Trinity Health is piloting a cooperative network to support Medicaid ILOS. This initiative will centralize contracting and administrative functions, enabling smaller CBOs to participate while simplifying oversight for MHPs.
The network is designed to improve ILOS services
- MHPs meet their 30% local vendor requirement
- MHPs serve a large geographic region with a single contract
- CBOs manage start-up costs and risk
- Enrollees access to more local choices in nutrition services
Resources
ILOS Network One-Pager for Community-Based Organizations
To learn more or get involved with the Trinity Health ILOS Cooperative Network, contact Jae Gerhart at FoodisMedicine@trinity-health.org.