By Devyn Lyon, FOX23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — Healthcare does not always begin inside a doctor’s office or a hospital. For some Tulsa organizations, it may begin with whether families can find and afford nutritious food close to home.
Ascension St. John is supporting RG Foods and other community organizations working to address food insecurity as a health issue, connecting access to fresh food with efforts to prevent or better manage conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.
“We understand that healthcare starts way before you reach the hospital doors,” said Kojo Asamoa-Caesar, Director of Community Health at Ascension St. John Health System. “We have to work upstream and look at social determinants of health, like food security, housing, transportation, all these different things that affect how people live and their health outcomes.”
The Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma estimates roughly one in seven Tulsa County residents experience food insecurity. Among children, the estimate is nearly one in five.
Food insecurity does not always mean having no food. It can also mean lacking consistent access to enough nutritious food for a healthy life or having to choose between groceries and other expenses such as rent, utilities, and medication.
RG Foods opened the Grocery Box inside the Phoenix at 36N housing development at North 36th Street and Peoria Avenue in April 2026.
Katie Plohocky, Founder and Executive Director of RG Foods, said the organization began about 15 years ago with a mobile grocery store. It later opened a permanent location at the Tulsa Dream Center before adding the Phoenix at 36N store.
“We want food to be where people live because people have access to healthy, affordable food every single day,” Plohocky said. “It’s part of their everyday life.”
Plohocky said the completed Phoenix at 36N development is expected to house approximately 540 families, with another 70 new homes planned nearby. She said approximately 3,000 households already live within a one-mile radius of the store.
The location also employs people from the surrounding community, connecting food access with housing and economic opportunity.
“Healthcare, groceries, housing and employment all are changing the conditions” that contribute to hunger, Plohocky said.
Ascension St. John said its support has helped RG Foods expand its work and has also supported the expansion of Double-Up Oklahoma in Tulsa.
The health system said it has invested more than $75 million in north Tulsa and partnered with more than 90 community organizations during the past five years. Those broader investments include food access, housing, and other community-health initiatives.
Asamoa-Caesar said the goal is not simply treating people after their health deteriorates.
“How are you ensuring that people don’t even have to come to the hospital in the first place?” Asamoa-Caesar said. “We’re not waiting until things get really bad and now, we’re having to address it in the inpatient environment.”
For families using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, affordability can remain a barrier even when a grocery store is nearby.
Double Up Oklahoma allows SNAP participants to earn $1 in Double Up Oklahoma benefits for every dollar spent in SNAP-eligible food at a participating location.
The match is limited to $20 per day and can be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Double Up Oklahoma is awesome because it allows people that use SNAP benefits to earn dollar for dollar with free produce, up to $20 every single day,” Plohocky said. “They can get what they need for the day and also get another $20 in fresh fruits and vegetables.”
The program is administered through Hunger Free Oklahoma and is available at participating grocery stores and farmers markets.
Ascension St. John said it has supported the program’s expansion at RG Foods, participating Reasor’s locations, and the Downtown Tulsa Midweek Market.
Participants use their EBT card to purchase SNAP-eligible food and receive the corresponding Double-Up benefit for produce. Current program information and participating locations are available through Double Up Oklahoma and Hunger Free Oklahoma.
Plohocky said the program benefits shoppers while also helping RG Foods purchase from local farmers and move fresh produce through its stores more quickly.
The partnership reflects a broader healthcare strategy known as addressing social determinants of health, the conditions where people live, work, and grow, that can influence their health.
Ascension St. John describes the grocery initiative as preventative healthcare at the neighborhood level. The longer-term test will be whether investments in food access and affordability produce measurable improvements in health before residents require hospital care.
Asamoa-Caesar said addressing problems as large as hunger requires healthcare systems, local nonprofits, housing organizations, and community members to work together.
“Sometimes, systems can get so big and far removed from the community,” Asamoa-Caesar said. “We want to make sure that people understand that we’re here to serve folks.”
His larger message is “Where you live should not determine how well you live.”
For these organizations, food is not separate from healthcare — it may be where healthcare starts.
