Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, Mo., which plans to open a grocery store, tested the waters with a farmers’ market. (Photo courtesy of Truman Medical Centers)
We’ve heard plenty about healthcare in retail locations, and a little about retail in healthcare.
We’ve also heard a lot about the need to place more emphasis on wellness and being accountable for patients throughout the entire continuum of care. So it was probably only a matter of time until a news item like this came along.
Truman Medical Centers (TMC), a two-hospital system based in Kansas City, Mo., and the Hospital Hill Economic Development Corp., a local organization focused on urban economic development, plan to develop an $11.5 million, 35,000 square foot “healthy foods” grocery store in downtown Kansas City. Why? More than half of TMC’s inner-city patients suffer from one or more chronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure or sickle cell disease, many of which have a strong correlation with poor nutrition. Many of these patients live in “food deserts” where healthy foods are not readily available, hospital officials say. Plans call for the new supermarket to provide one-stop shopping for produce, meats and dairy items, as well as specific ethnic foods.
What does a hospital know about selling food? At least a little. TMC’s push for healthy eating began about three years ago when it opened farmers’ markets at its Hospital Hill and Lakewood locations. Moreover, profitability is not the primary goal, local officials say. Even if the venture simply breaks even, the health benefits and boost to the inner city economy will make it worthwhile, they say. TMC is raising money for the grocery store, plans to break ground this fall and hopes to open the store by early summer 2014.
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