Heywood Hospital Collaboration to Educate Families on Healthy

GARDNER, Mass. - March 14, 2014 - PRLog -- Off Our Rockers, a joint venture between Heywood Hospital, Gardner Public Schools and Hannaford Supermarkets, is offering a new program to help local families make healthy food choices.

The “Rocker Shopper” initiative presents free, one-hour programs for parents on how to use nutrition guidelines to make healthy grocery shopping choices.  A Hannaford registered dietician, Pat Hunter, RD, CDE, has spearheaded this new project, and the grocer is sponsoring it.

The program is part of the Off Our Rockers, a partnership intended to focus attention, resources, and education on the public health issue of childhood obesity. Off Our Rockers offers afterschool activities and healthy snacks to local grammar school children.

Rocker Shopper programs are being held at the Gardner Hannaford Supermarket. Families with children who attend either the Waterford Street or Helen Mae Sauter Schools and who participate in the program receive gift cards donated by Hannaford to encourage the purchase of healthful foods.

The Rocker Shopper program was first offered on March 5th with two more sessions planned for March 19 March and April 2.  The program is free for eligible families.

Anyone interested in more information about the program may contact Douglas H. Miller, MPH, RN, Certified Diabetes Educator for Heywood Hospital at (978) 630 5719.

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About Heywood Healthcare
Heywood Healthcare is an independent, community-owned healthcare system located in the North Central region of Massachusetts. It is comprised of Heywood Hospital, a non-profit, 134-bed acute-care hospital in Gardner, MA; Athol Hospital, a 25 bed not-for-profit, Critical Access Hospital in Athol, MA; Heywood Medical Group with primary care physicians and specialists located throughout the region; and four satellite facilities -Winchendon Health Center and Murdock School-based Health Center in Winchendon, West River Health Center in Orange and Heywood Rehabilitation Center in Gardner.

About Heywood Hospital
Part of the Heywood Healthcare system, Heywood Hospital is a 134-bed acute care hospital in Gardner, MA, which provides a broad range of high quality medical, surgical, obstetrical, pediatric and behavioral health services on an inpatient and outpatient basis. The hospital’s Centers of Excellence include the Watkins Center for Emergency and Acute Care; the LaChance Maternity Center; the Diabetes Center; and the Heywood Heart Center, an affiliate of the Heart and Vascular Center of Excellence at UMass Memorial Health Care.