Dr. Cutts, Safety Net Champion, advocates for needs of underserved children
Congratulations to Diana Cutts, MD, who was recently recognized with the 2019 Safety Net Champion Award at the Many Faces of Community Health Conference for advancing research, policy, and programming for children and families served by the safety net at Hennepin Healthcare. Dr. Cutts is a general pediatrician with special expertise in the area of pediatric nutrition. For more than 25 years, she has been a positive force for change at Hennepin Healthcare and a dynamic, committed advocate for the needs of underserved kids and their families.
Below are just a few highlights of her work on behalf of children and families:
- For more than 20 years, Dr. Cutts has been the lead researcher for Children’s HealthWatch, a national study collecting real-time data in urban settings across the country on infants and
toddlers from families facing economic hardship to shape national public policy positions on food, poverty, energy and housing challenges for low-income families with young children. - One of Dr. Cutt’s nutrition-related research studies ultimately led her to start a Food Shelf at Hennepin Healthcare, the only one in the region and one of few in the country. Over its 10 years of operation, the Food Shelf grew to provide immediate food support to more than 100,000 food-insecure patients at more than 20 clinic locations.
- Cutts also forged a relationship with Second Harvest Heartland and helped create a way for clinicians at Hennepin to make a referral through the electronic medical record to Second Harvest SNAP outreach teams.
- Cutts was instrumental in establishing the Children’s Literacy Program at Hennepin. As part of the program, providers distribute more than 30,000 children’s books annually.
We are grateful for Dr. Cutt’s contribution and passion. Click here to learn more about the Children’s Growth and Nutrition Clinic at Hennepin Healthcare. To make an appointment, talk to your pediatrician about a referral.
