Blessing Bag Project at Medical Center Hospital for Patients with Food Insecurity
(David Gomez, AiNews Anchor-DRB MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS DIGITAL NEWS)
This is DRB Media Communications Digital News. Medical Center Heath System and the West Texas Food Bank are helping MCH patients with proper nutrition. Danny Barrera has the story.
This is DRB Media Communications Digital News.
Odessa, Texas/May 31, 2026-Medical Center Health System recently introduced the Blessing Bag Project, which are bags of shelf-stable food given to hospitalized patients who have answered YES to food insecurity on SDOH Screening at the time of discharge.
(Jorie Pearce, Case Management Nurse-Medical Center Hospital/Odessa, Texas)
“We started tracking this as part of a Medicare requirement, and upon tracking it, we noticed that our food insecure patients were needing a little bit more help to aid in their recovery. So we started this project about a year ago, got approval with the hospital to start working on it, and started talking to the food bank about a possible partnership. A food bank agreed March twelfth. And then we got this project off the ground, had food bags delivered on April first, and were able to start delivering them to patients.”
The goal of the Blessing Bag Project is to provide nourishment, support and hope to Medical Center Hospital patients as they begin the transition home.
(Jorie Pearce, Case Management Nurse-Medical Center Hospital/Odessa, Texas)
“We do the referral to the Navigate Forward program. That’s who’s supplying our Blessing bags and Navigate Forward program carries on from where we leave off. Once the patient is discharged, they get in touch with the patient and they help them with community resources.”
(Analee Rodriguez, Case Management Nurse-Medical Center Hospital/Odessa, Texas)
“We also provide them with a list of resources. It’s a flyer that goes in the blessing bag.”
The Blessing Bag Project is a coordinated program with the West Texas Food Bank’s Navigate Forward program designed to help individuals and families move beyond immediate needs to long-term self–sufficiency.
(Priscilla Rincon, NAVIGATE FORWARD PROGRAM Manager- West Texas Food Bank)
“Our social service coordinators. We’ll go ahead and, um, do the intake with them. And then we’ll go ahead and guide them through the program. But the program does, does offer um resources. So, we’ll go ahead and help them find the resources to either do education if they’re needing educational needs or they’re needing, uh, job training, resume building. Um, and pretty much whatever it is that we can help our clients become self-sufficient.”
(Brent Odden, Program Director-West Texas Food Bank)
“So, the blessing bags that we provide for medical center hospital program, you know, it is an immediate assistance. So, they’re small bags and they have stuff in them that they can take home with them, and they can they can eat immediately. You know, we don’t know if somebody has a stove. We don’t know if they live in their car. We don’t know if they live in an apartment. So sometimes it’s easier if they can come shop for themselves for what they need, and then they can take it home and they can utilize it however they need.”
To get connected, contact the West Texas Food Bank online or call 432-282-8551. For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera.
(David Gomez, AiNews Anchor-DRB MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS DIGITAL NEWS)
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