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Coordinated Care Increases Access to Healthy Food across Washington, with 9 Million Meals and Counting

Date: 11/13/23

Coordinated Care announced today that it has provided 9 million meals to Washington communities through its One Million Meals Campaign since 2020. The company launched the campaign in response to the COVID-19 pandemic understanding that access to healthy food can reduce chronic illnesses, close equity gaps and improve overall health outcomes.

In addition to the annual One Million Meals campaign, Coordinated Care provides the member benefit, Coordinated Care Harvest Bucks. This is the first and only type of food access benefit for Medicaid members in Washington across all Medicaid plans. By partnering with the Washington State Department of Health and Safeway grocery stores, Coordinated Care members can receive up to $100 in vouchers per year to buy fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables at any Safeway in the state. Since the program launched in 2021, 10,000 Coordinated Care members have received vouchers to increase the fruits and vegetables on their plates.

Expanding into the broader communities, Coordinated Care invested over $1 million with expert partners statewide for food-related programs in 2022. These partnerships include support for:

  • Medically tailored meals from PeaceHealth’s Meals on Wheels program, Lifelong, and FISH Community Food Bank.
  • Emergency Food Network’s home delivery and school children’s programs, and the expansion of their warehouse to serve more clients.
  • Second Harvest’s Mobile Market program, community cooking classes, and food drives to provide hunger relief in rural Eastern & Central Washington.
  • FareStart to provide meals for residents in permanent supportive housing.
  • Northwest Harvest’s SODO Community Market in Seattle and the Fruitvale Community Market in Yakima.
  • Expanding African Community Housing and Development’s farmers market program in White Center serving mostly BIPOC populations.
  • Eloise’s Cooking Pot to support their transition to a free grocery store model.
  • WithinReach’s food texting and hunger relief programs.
  • Metro Parks Tacoma for their Summer Meals Program for children.
  • Mill Creek Food Bank’s weekend backpack program.
  • Columbia Basin Health Association’s food distribution.
  • Tacoma Public Health Dept and Tacoma Public Schools for a Garden Shed at the Eastside Community Garden.

"Access to healthy food is foundational to health and wellness," said Beth Johnson, president and CEO at Coordinated Care. "This is a true healthcare and equity issue, and Coordinated Care takes a comprehensive approach to developing and supporting innovative solutions to serve our members and communities with partner organizations across the state."

Coordinated Care’s community giving efforts focus on capacity-building, addressing healthcare inequities in underrepresented populations, and social drivers of health like food insecurity, transportation and housing. For more information about how Coordinated Care is investing in solutions across Washington, visit CoordinatedCarehealth.com/about-us/community.

About Coordinated Care
Coordinated Care provides free and low-cost health insurance coverage to more than 300,000 Medicaid, foster care, Medicare and marketplace members across Washington state, with more than 30,000 providers in-network. Coordinated Care is committed to transforming the health of the community one person at a time. They treat the whole person by breaking down barriers to accessing care, walking members through their benefits, and connecting them to the care they need. Coordinated Care is a Washington managed care organization and wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise committed to helping people live healthier lives.