By Esteban Fernandez
For Times West Virginian
Morgantown — A program launched in 2024 to tackle food insecurity in West Virginia received $1 million from a nonprofit on Monday.
The Highmark Foundation contributed to the Food for Mountaineers program, an effort to help WVU Medicine patients avoid hunger in their households. Food insecurity is an issue for one in six state residents, according to data from Feeding America, a hunger relief organization, and the US Department of Agriculture. The presentation was made Monday at the headquarters for Peak Health on an Voorhis Road in Morgantown.
“We’ve been doing this for a few years and when we look at the actual metrics on how many people are served, the results from a clinical standpoint, we’re seeing it makes a difference,” Jay Sheehy, president of the Highmark Foundation, said. “People with chronic conditions really need healthy food. If you’re a diabetic, having the right type of food and a regular diet is extremely important.”
The program is a collaboration between Highmark and WVU Medicine. Patients receive prepaid cards through their doctor visits, which are used to purchase nutritious food at Kroger, Food Lion, Walmart, Amazon Fresh, Instacart and Dollar General. The Highmark Foundation is a charitable organization that awards funding to evidence-based programs aimed at improving community health.
Sheehy said keeping people healthy means ensuring they have access to good food and clean water. Sarah Patrick, WVU Medicine’s population health medical director, said limited access to nutritious food that supports disease management is a significant driver of overall health outcomes. Chris McCormock, associate vice president of population health at WVU Medicine, said the hospital system is taking an approach where ‘food is medicine.’
The Food for Mountaineers program works with primary care physicians who guide patients on their overall nutrition as part of their health care.
Patients who qualify for the program receive a debit card loaded with $100 per month, which they can use at participating retailers. An enrollment coordinator also checks in with patients monthly. The program is also increasing the role of dieticians, to provide more education around diet. The program also purchased and will soon mail out portion plates from the American Diabetes Association to help patients make good food decisions.
McCormick said West Virginia is a good target for the program.
“We’re very rural, so that means food deserts are very prevalent and throughout,” he said. “I think it makes this the perfect state to try to figure this out.”
Republicans cut funding for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program by $186 billion over 10 years, a 20% cut which is the largest throughout the history of the program. Around 272,000 state residents rely on SNAP, according to USAFacts.org.
McCormick said Food for Mountaineers doesn’t receive federal funding. However, Sheehy said he expects a lot more requests for Highmark to get involved in addressing food insecurity. He expects the need will continue to grow. The state secured $200 million from the Federal Rural Health Transformation Program, which was added to the Big Beautiful Bill to offset some of the cuts to Medicaid.
“That’s just being organized now,” McCormick said. “From there, I know we as a health system, we’re starting to get organized, and I believe we’ve taken some big steps initially to be organized around how we, as a health system, apply for some of those funds. We’re coordinating our efforts to hopefully support West Virginia.”
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