Rooftop gardens are more than just a hobby in the Gundersen Region of Bellin and Gundersen Health System. Growing and harvesting healthy foods is tied to preventing, treating and even reversing chronic disease.
 
Plant Partners, a group of about 130 Gundersen employee volunteers, is growing a wide selection of herbs, chard, kale, peppers, cucumbers, strawberries and more on the Gundersen La Crosse Hospital’s employee terrace. And while staff from 16 departments oversee the garden beds, anyone can harvest what's there.
 
“Medicine is shifting toward disease prevention rather than treatment,” says Anna Kitzmann, MD, ophthalmologist and Plant Partners founder. “The healthier people are, the less chance they have of developing chronic illnesses.”
 
“We hope that growing produce right on campus helps our patients and staff see that food is medicine. What we put into our bodies has a direct link to our health,” says Jake Larkin, PA-C, hospital medicine and Plant Partners volunteer.
 
The group hopes to scale each year, sharing the fresh harvest with patients and employees.
 
“We see lots of diet-related diseases in internal medicine,” says Larkin. “We can treat patient symptoms, but by teaching more about diet and nutrition, we can actually help get to the root of the problem and empower patients to live healthier lives.”