Providence St. Joseph Health's Southern California Region Puts a Doctor in More Supermarket Aisles to Help You Make Better Choices

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This month through the end of the year, you could find a doctor in Aisle Four of your favorite supermarket just waiting to help you make healthier choices. That's because Providence St. Joseph Health's Southern California region is expanding its award-winning "Shop with Your Doc" program throughout Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, bringing medical experts into communities to help people make healthier decisions in their everyday lives.

Providence St. Joseph Health's Southern California region, whose family of brands include St. Joseph Hoag Health in Orange County and Providence Health & Services in Los Angeles County, is partnering for the fourth year with grocery stores, including Ralphs and Food4Less, to bring doctors, registered dieticians and other experts into grocery stores to provide free health and nutrition advice. Shoppers can learn how to navigate the aisles, tour the store with primary care physicians or dieticians, and receive free blood pressure checks. Cardiologists have also been added to the program, explaining the importance of a nutritious diet in helping prevent cardiovascular disease and offering heart health advice.

Some of the events, which are free and open to the public, will focus on at-risk communities facing pressing health needs such as higher-than-average rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Nearly 40 percent of adults and nearly 20 percent of children in the United States are obese, according to new findings from the National Center for Health Statistics. Obesity continues to be a critical community health challenge in California – about 25 percent of adults are obese and 31 percent of children 10 to 17 are overweight or obese.

"Providence St. Joseph Health's Southern California region is committed to meeting the pressing health and wellness needs of our communities," said Erik G. Wexler, chief executive of the region that includes 14 hospitals and 60 doctor's offices. "By expanding this program to bring our expertise into more communities and more locations, we are addressing broad health challenges in our region and making it easier for people to get expert health advice for themselves and their families."   

"Nutrition education is essential to stemming the rise in childhood obesity and this is a way to provide parents and other shoppers with trusted advice outside the walls of our hospitals and medical offices," said S. Daniel Ganjian, MD, a board-certified pediatrician at Providence St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica.

"Being overweight or obese correlates to increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other serious health issues and programs like this empower people to take control of their own health," said Thomas C. Kim, MD, FACC, medical director of non-invasive cardiology at St. Joseph Hospital, Orange.

Dr. Ganjian and Dr. Kim will share their expertise during Shop with Your Doc events, educating shoppers about the importance of making healthy choices at the supermarket and providing other trusted advice.

Shop with Your Doc will be hosted at the following locations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More dates will be announced soon.

• Thursday, Nov. 9, Ralphs, 1644 Cloverfield, Santa Monica
• Friday, Nov. 10, Ralphs, 1425 W. Chapman, Orange
• Friday, Nov. 17, Ralphs, 380 E. 17^th Street, Costa Mesa
• Monday, Nov. 20, Food4Less, 16208 Parthenia Street, North Hills
• Monday, Dec. 4, Food4Less, 20801 Bear Valley Rd, Apple Valley

About Providence St. Joseph Health

Providence St. Joseph Health is committed to improving the health of the communities it serves, especially those who are poor and vulnerable. With 50 hospitals, 829 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 110,000 caregivers (employees) serving communities across seven states – Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington. With system offices based in Renton, Wash. and Irvine, Calif., the Providence St. Joseph Health family of organizations works together to meet the needs of its communities, both today and into the future.

SOURCE Providence St. Joseph Health

Related Links

https://www.stjhs.org