What is WIC?

WIC-Logo

WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) and Open Door partner together to provide the most vulnerable people in our communities with access to personalized care through nutrition and lifestyle choices. WIC mothers benefit from breastfeeding education and support, nutrition counseling for prenatal and postpartum women, child health and nutrition counseling, and more.

The WIC program has proven to play an essential role in the health care system by reducing fetal deaths and infant mortality rates, improving children’s diets, and helping children get ready to start school. The WIC team at Open Door – comprised of experienced, qualified nutritionists – helps promote healthy weight gain during pregnancy and reduces the risk of common prenatal complications such as iron deficiency anemia. Through nutritional intervention during infancy and early childhood, WIC helps to prevent childhood obesity, developmental issues, dental problems, and many other issues that affect the youth in our communities.

Through WIC, low income participants have access to nutritious foods, like baby foods, iron-fortified adult cereal, and fruits and vegetables, at local grocery stores, pharmacies, and farmer’s markets. Pregnant women participating in WIC receive prenatal care earlier and have free access to peer counselors and support groups. Children also are positively impacted, as they are more likely to have a regular source of medical care and have more up to date immunizations.

WIC Program Director Gina Devito says, “By providing WIC services right on site in many of our health centers and partnering with WIC in our communities, we are able to meet new moms’ and babies’ crucial nutrition needs as well as connect them to other community partners through which they can access vital resources. We are a support for people going through so much, and our families are grateful for our services and compassion during these very difficult times.”

About Open Door Family Medical Center and Foundation
Open Door Family Medical Center provides health care and wellness programs to individuals and families in need throughout Westchester, Dutchess, Putnam and Ulster Counties. A pioneer Federally Qualified Health Center, Open Door provides more than 300,000 patient visits annually and serves 63,000 individual patients who might not otherwise have access. Open Door offers integrated services and a holistic approach to building healthier communities. Primary medical care, dental care, integrated behavioral health care, clinical nutrition, wellness programs, and chronic disease management are the foundation of its clinical programs. Founded as a free clinic in 1972, Open Door’s mission of building healthier communities through accessible, equitable, culturally competent health care has led to site and service expansions. Today, Open Door operates centers in Brewster, Mamaroneck, Mount Kisco, Ossining, Port Chester, and Sleepy Hollow, in addition to nine School-Based Health Centers in the Port Chester, Webutuck, and Ossining School Districts, a mobile dental van in Mount Kisco, and a dental practice in Saugerties, NY. Open Door is accredited by the Joint Commission and is recognized by the National Committee on Quality Assurance as a Patient-Centered Medical Home. Open Door achieves clinical results that consistently surpass national benchmarks for patient outcomes. For additional information, please contact Elisabeth Gilbert, Senior Director of Development, at 914-502-1417.

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