Kroger's Little Clinic pilots nutrition counseling services
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kroger’s The Little Clinic retail health clinics has added registered dietitian nutritionists, providing services such as nutrition counseling, to its scope of services.
The Little Clinic has tapped Eileen Myers, formerly VP affiliations and patient-centered strategies for The Little Clinic, to lead this initiative being piloted in four communities where the company currently operates retail clinics: Nashville, Tenn., Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio and Denver, Colo.
"Kroger is a health and wellness leader in so many regards that it’s a natural extension of our business to add dietitians to our care model," said Colleen Lindholz, The Little Clinic president and CEO. “We are now able to help our patients make a better connection between food and overall health and provide personalized food-related guidance to each individual patient right inside the store where food decisions are made.”
Myers, in her new role as VP retail dietetics and nutrition solutions, will oversee the program and is responsible for developing the programs and protocols The Little Clinic will utilize when providing nutrition services. Myers is also a registered dietitian nutritionist, a published author in peer journals as well as her book, “Winning the War Within, Nutrition Therapy for Clients with Eating Disorders,” and pioneered the field as one of the very first supermarket dietitians in the 1980s.
“The Little Clinic is best positioned within the retail health industry to add dietitians and nutrition-based services because we are located right inside the grocery store," Myers said. "Our approach is truly a hands-on approach because we can easily take a store tour with patients, guide them to the foods that best fit their nutrition goals, teach them how to read food labels and create a personalized food plan to best support the patient’s goals, whether that’s weight management, food allergies, diabetes, improved sports performance or other health concerns.”