Ashe County hospital one of first in state to open food pantry in hospital

ASHE COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) - Rising prices are hitting us all.

But it’s really having an impact on those with low or fixed incomes.

It leads to those tough decisions -- like should you pay for food or medicine?

A survey by GoodRx found prescription prices rose on average about 5 percent last year.

The healthcare company says 21 percent of those surveyed reported taking on debt or declaring bankruptcy to pay for their medications.

So, it stands to reason, a lot of people are cutting back on other things as well to make ends meet, things like food.

In Ashe County, an effort is underway to ease the burden.

Ashe Memorial Hospital has a food pantry.

It’s one of the first in North Carolina to set one upright inside the building with the goal of eliminating that impossible choice.

Ashe Memorial Hospital, founded in 1941, is 80 years old.

It’s the only hospital in the county, with roughly 25 beds.

About 13,000 people come through the emergency room each year.

The hospital offers chemotherapy, orthopedics, surgery, general surgery, and it sees all walks of life.

It’s a one-stop shop.

“We do see several people that come in at different times of the year, throughout the year, you know, depends on the season,” said Melissa Lewis, from Ashe Memorial Hospital. “Like recently, we just went through FOR the leaves. People come into their second homes to look at the leaves during the winter and fall. We have people that come during the summer to vacation. We look at the Ashe County census and we do an assessment on what areas of need in the community.”

The hospital does a community-wide assessment, and food insecurity has been one of those major needs.

“So, in 2016, our CEO at the time had this great idea to partner with the Absheron Center. We had a conversation that day. And by two days later, we started out with our own food pantry here in conjunction with the parent center,” Lewis said.

Ashe County Memorial Hospital was one of the first hospitals in North Carolina to provide a food pantry for its patients.

“A lot of people in Ashe county have to make choices,” Lewis said. “Sometimes those choices can be too, to choose to pay for their medicines, pay for their phone bills, pay for their lab bill or buy food with it. So, we took that out of the equation for the hospital.”

If people come to the food pantry, they are asked two questions.

If they answer yes to either one of those questions, they automatically get a food bog and there are no questions asked at that point.

“So those questions are, ‘Did you in the past year run out of food before you had money to buy more? And or did you run out of money before you had a chance to buy food?’” Lewis said.

The food pantry is boxes. They have nonperishable like beans and rice, and other canned items, potato flakes, peanut butter, things that will keep for a long time.

The hospital has given away more than 2,000 boxes since it started in 2016.

“So, we have a great response for it,” Lewis said. “I even had one great experience where I kept seeing the same repeat person on my list. And he got to the box and one day, he wasn’t on my list.”

That person told Lewis later that he no longer needed the service, and that he had a job and was able to provide for his family.

“We are trying to make it better,” Lewis said. “You know if we’re able to send you home, we want to send you home with resources and things that will help you continue to get better so that you don’t have to come into the facility again. We want your health to be the most important thing. “And if we can promote that health and healing by providing you some small food items, they will definitely do that time and time again.”

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