No one looks forward to a hospital stay. It usually signifies a problem that needs a diagnosis and treatment. Besides the endless tests, procedures and sleep interruptions, there’s also the dreaded hospital food, which has been the butt of endless jokes over the years. But hospital food has received its own diagnosis and while it’s in bad shape, it is in no way terminal. In fact, corrective actions are happening now, and we should see hospital food making a complete recovery with monikers such as appetizing, nutritious and delicious.
Appetizing and … delicious? Hospital food?
Yes.
Believe it or not, nearly 250 hospitals are partnering with Health Care Without Harm, pledging to revamp their notoriously unappealing menus with healthy options prepared with fresh, organic and local ingredients, along with hormone and antibiotic-free meat and dairy products. Health Care Without Harm exists to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment.
It’s about time! As places of healing, hospitals have a natural incentive to provide food that’s healthy for people and the environment. Although it’s only a small percentage of the 7,500 hospitals in the U.S., the number of institutions making changes in their meal programs is rising rapidly, “largely in response to consumer trends,” says Joyce Hagen-Flint, director of food and nutrition services at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, Florida.
“In the general population, people are becoming more conscious of what’s in the food on their plate, where it came from and its overall impact from a financial, health and economic perspective,” says Hagen-Flint.
Currently, there’s no model in place as to what works best, but hospitals are making changes in accordance with their economic constraints. Not every hospital has the budget or resources to buy into or sustain a long-term program of all organic food. But many are making small adjustments, such as eliminating all trans-fats and fried foods from their menus and substituting fresh fruit for sugary desserts. Others are extending their food modifications to include employee and guest cafeterias. What’s good for the patient is good for their families, as well.
Some institutions, such as Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, California, cook with produce from the hospital’s on-site vegetable garden; Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, started hosting in-hospital farmers markets five years ago and has been partnering with local farms to provide patients with organic strawberries, fresh cherry tomatoes and other seasonal produce.
Newly opened on March 15, Michigan’s Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital is revolutionizing hospital cuisine for both patients and guests. “We believe that when a patient comes to the hospital, we need to do everything in our power to help them heal, and that means providing them with healthy, nourishing food,” says Gerard van Grinsven, president and CEO. “In addition, members of the community looking for a tasty, healthy, reasonably priced meal can come to our hospital’s restaurant even when they aren’t patients,” he adds.
At Henry Ford, there are no fried foods, and no added salt or processed sugar. There are no fryers or salt shakers anywhere in the hospital kitchen. Dishes are primarily vegetarian, with lean white meat or fish – and little red meat. And, of course, patient meals are tailored to medical conditions, from food allergies, to diabetes, to cardiovascular problems.
Using produce from organic farms, renowned local chef Matt Prentice, culinary director for the hospital, has worked tirelessly to develop recipes for healthy, tasty food options. Patients can order healthy meals of their choice any time of day from flat screen TVs in their rooms, which reduces food waste.
Collaboration with the Schoolcraft College of Culinary Arts provides student chefs, so the kitchen is a cost-effective training facility, as well. In addition, the hospital is partnering with local organic growers, and future plans include an on-site greenhouse to supply fresh produce for the hospital.
And la crème de la crème – the hospital is creating the first culinary learning institute for health care in the world. The goal is for chefs from other health care systems to come to Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital to learn how to cook healthy food for their patients.
“We are stretching the boundaries of a typical hospital,” says van Grinsven. “We believe we can transform health care in this country by combining the very best clinical care with a focus on wellness and a service experience that is second to none and one important component of that is food.”
