ROCKPORT — As part of its efforts to help those experiencing food insecurity, Pen Bay Medical Center has added a new self-serve pantry shelf on its campus in Rockport.

The new “Help Yourself Shelf” is located on the first floor of the Physicians Building, just inside the main entrance. The hospital’s other pantry shelves are located on the first and second floors of the Beebe Health Center, located on the Pen Bay campus at 15 Anchor Drive in Rockport, and at Pen Bay Walk-in Care, located at 22 White St. in Rockland.

The hospital’s Community Health team stocks the pantry shelves with nutritious shelf-stable foods and fresh produce. The shelves are conspicuously placed and everyone is welcome to take items from them, according to PBMC, in a news release.

“We are very excited about the location of this new shelf,” said Deidre Dority, Community Health program manager at Pen Bay and Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast and local champion of the hospitals’ food security initiatives. “This shelf provides ample opportunity to reach more patients that may not go to the Beebe Center or Walk-in Care. Offering resources where people have already traveled to get to an appointment creates a low-barrier option that allows patients to choose foods that work for their families.”

Waldo, Pen Bay’s sister hospital, has two “Help Yourself Shelf” locations on campus. They can be found on the first floor of 125 Northport Ave., just outside the offices for CarePartners and Waldo County Dental Care, and at Waldo County Medical Partners (WCMP) Primary & Walk-in Care at 119 Northport Ave., in Belfast. A third shelf can be found at Lincolnville Regional Health Center, located at 2399 Atlantic Highway in Lincolnville.

In their first year, the shelves provided more than 5,000 pounds of shelf-stable food to patients across the two hospitals. Additionally, more than 9,000 pounds of fresh produce was distributed at these locations as part of the hospital’s participation in the Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Mainers Feeding Mainers initiative, which partners with farms across the state to provide nutritious, local food for Maine families.

“Making connections with other organizations that are doing this work strengthens our community,” said Jemma Penberthy, director of community health at Pen Bay and Waldo. “It really is an example of how we’re working together to improve the health of our community.”

Pen Bay Medical Center

Pen Bay Medical Center is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of nine local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit pbmc.org.