Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1138339
23 t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 9 organizations to get more farmers and develop more farms so they can actually be the ones who are feeding the community." Measuring clinical outcomes Eventually, the produce harvested on the farm will be coupled with fresh food from the Houston Food Bank and distributed to patients with diabetes, hypertension, and possibly expectant mothers through a hospital-based "food farmacy." Hospital administrators will be measuring cer- tain biomedical markers to ensure patient health outcomes are improving because of the food. "We are measuring clinical outcomes—A1C lev- els [which calculate blood sugar], LDL [low-density lipoproteins, also known as "bad" cholesterol] and blood pressure reduction," Tseng said. According to Tseng, a one-point reduction in a patient's A1C levels translates to a savings of about $8,300 for the hospital by avoiding unneces- sary medical services. "We hope to share results in the next six months to one year to see to what extent those three biomedical markers improve, each point of which directly translates into cost savings," Tseng said. "We are also measuring outcomes related to knowledge and fruit and vegetable consumption, so we are looking over time to see if patients' diets shift to more fruits and vegetables and measuring patient and partner satisfaction." Hospital administrators also hope to offer "walk-and-learn" sessions with patients, during which dietitians lead participants through the farm and teach them about food selection and its impact on health. Physical therapists are also looking at the farm space to conduct sessions with their patients using benches and a walking path that will soon be completed. "Access to high-quality clinical care is very important to total health, but it is just one piece of the puzzle," Tseng said. "It is responsible for about 20 percent of health outcomes, another 30 percent is behavioral and a whopping 50 percent is due to the social determinants of health—of which poverty is a huge predictor." Although in its infancy, the farm to hospital initiative has already received national attention. The program recently won the American College of Physicians 2019 Innovation Challenge grand prize, which came with a $20,000 grant. The Texas Medical Center provided $150,000 in grants to Harris Health and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to support development of the farm and its programming. "It is going to prove to countless other coun- ties and hospitals across the country, hopefully around the world, that this is not a pipe dream, this is not a froufrou, cute and nice thing, but that this can be a real game changer of public health intervention," Verm said. In addition to growing healthy food for their hospital patients, Verm and Seitzinger have com- mitted themselves to creating change in the Fifth Ward. The two have partnered with neighborhood leaders to bring local children to the farm, educate community members about the importance of fresh food and help solve the problem of access to fresh produce. "I would love it if all of the students who come out here all wanted to be farmers, but that's not the reality of the situation," Verm said. "More than wanting them to grow up to be farmers, I want them to grow up to be teachers, doctors, politi- cians, leaders and activists who all have some- thing grounded in respect for agriculture and the need for healthy, nourishing food." VISIT TMCNEWS.ORG TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE LBJ HOSPITAL FARM