Instacart has partnered with New York’s largest health system, Northwell Health, to provide grocery stipends for select patients to purchase healthy groceries via the last-mile delivery service.
The program works in conjunction with Northwell’s Center for Maternal Health Maternal Outcomes and Morbidity Collaborative with a focus on maternal health for those in Black and Brown communities, the company said in a press release.
Mothers-to-be in the program can access Northwell’s Healthy Choices Storefront on the app to purchase select products and nutritional guidance.
“Raising health is more than the care Northwell provides in our hospitals and doctors’ offices. It’s also about how we raise up the people in our communities and how we raise our expectations of what health can be, which is why Northwell contributes more than $2 billion in community benefit annually,” Debbie Salas-Lopez, senior vice president of Northwell’s Office of Community Wellness and Population Health, said in the press release. “The collaboration with Instacart is part of our comprehensive community health effort and will provide tools and resources to access nutritious foods for our staff, patients, and communities.”
Sarah Mastrorocco, vice president and general manager of Instacart Health, said the program leverages Instacart’s scale and health tools “to create impactful nutrition access and education programs that help solve real community challenges.”
“Studies show that a healthy diet during pregnancy can greatly improve the health of both moms and babies and reduce the risk of several common complications,” Mastrorocco added. “By offering our Fresh Funds stipends to give mothers more convenient access to nutritious food, and consumer tools that make Northwell Health’s expert guidance actionable, we’re supporting programs that help make our communities healthier.”