Guthrie Cortland's "Food Prescription Program" is Building Healthy Habits

Participants of the Guthrie Cortland Medical Center “Food Prescription Program” have concluded the free five-class series on healthy cooking and eating. The program is offered to families with diet-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes. As part of a capstone to the program, participants toured their local Price Chopper supermarket to test the skills they had learned during the course, identify healthy foods and products, and learn how to read nutrition labels to determine healthy choices.

A grant of $2,500 was awarded to Guthrie Cortland Medical Center last year to fund the Food Prescription Program. The program helps families deemed at risk of diet related diseases and gives them knowledge, skills, and confidence to make nutritional and affordable meals. Participants were enrolled into the program by obtaining a prescription from their physician to ensure they were a good candidate for the program. 

Guthrie is a non-profit integrated health system located in north central Pennsylvania and upstate New York, serving patients from a twelve-county service area. Guthrie is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network and is the first health system based in Pennsylvania and New York to join this network. Guthrie is comprised of a research institute, home care/hospice, hospitals in Sayre, Pa., Corning, N.Y., Towanda, Pa., Troy, Pa. and Cortland, N.Y., as well as a multi-specialty group practice of more than 325 physicians and 210 advanced practice providers offering 47 specialties through a regional office network providing primary and specialty care in 22 communities in Pennsylvania and New York. In addition, Guthrie offers home medical equipment and respiratory therapy products at seven convenient Med Supply Depot locations. Guthrie provides a wide range of services and programs to enhance the health and well-being of those it serves.