Food locker opens at Sentara CarePlex Hospital to help address food insecurity on the peninsula

HAMPTON, Va — There's a new way to help address food insecurity on the peninsula.

Swiping on the screen and entering a code at a food locker outside Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton will get you access to bags of free and healthy food inside the locker. It's a first for the hospital.

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The hospital partnered with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank to create the locker.

“We know that without consistent access to nutritious food, health outcomes worsen," said Sentara CarePlex Patient Care Services Director Essence Riddick.

The locker has been in the works for years and is the result of a community health needs assessm