Shannon Haynes

Community Health Outpatient and Community Health Dietitian

Windham Hospital

Windham Hospital opened a new food pantry in 2024 designed to help food-insecure patients, a project that was led by Shannon Haynes, Community Health Outpatient and Community Health Dietitian at Windham Hospital.

Haynes explained that according to USDA data from Windham’s Regional Community Health Needs Assessment, Windham County has seen a rise in food insecurity. In adults, food insecurity rose more than 2%, and in children, it increased 4%.

In Windham Hospital, according to assessments that are done upon admission, 6,312 patients were admitted in FY 2023, of which 122 (1.9%) indicated having food insecurity.

A food pantry program was launched at Backus Hospital in 2023, averaging 10 bags of non-perishable food per month given to patients who identified as being food insecure or stated they cannot afford to buy food when they go home, Haynes said.

Clearly there was a need for the program in Windham as well, Haynes said, but the challenge was finding the food to fill the bags. At Backus, the majority of the food comes from the United Way Gemma Moran Food Bank, which is limited to New London County. Similar organizations in Windham County required a high level of disbursement in order to qualify to receive donations.

Enter the Windham Hospital Foundation, which agreed to financially support the program and find space for safe storage of the food bags. The pantry is available to any discharging patient as well as patients from Oncology, Wound Care, Cardiac Rehab, the Women’s Center, and the Windham Center for Mental Health.

Haynes noted that one bag can provide about three days’ worth of food, which is important for someone just getting home from the hospital. Each patient also receives information on where to find assistance in the community.

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