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New hospital food is better for you, say hospital officials By Liz Dadson |
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The new hospital food services delivery is not only more efficient and cost-effective, it's better for the patients. That's the word from officials with the South Bruce Grey Health Centre who spoke to the press in a special meeting Friday morning at the Walkerton hospital.
Chief executive officer Paul Davies told the media that the agenda is being altered so those presentations are made during the open session. Van Manen has been with the health centre for 16 months, coming here from a 20-year career at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. The food service delivery was changed in the health centre's Chesley and Durham hospital sites in September, 2010, said Van Manen. The Kincardine and Walkerton sites were changed in July, 2011. The traditional kitchen has been dismantled, replaced with an outsourced kitchen, she said. Individual meals are heated from frozen, which eliminates waste, she said. Other meal items are added to each patient's tray as necessary. She said the menu at all four hospital sites follows the Canada Food Guide, providing less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium and less than 60 grams of fat. The menu offers the patient's choice of four stock soups, three cream soups, five varieties of sandwiches, garden salad or vegetable sticks, and 17 varieties of hot entrees. It can accommodate special diets, such as restricted lactose, sodium-restricted, and gluten-free. Van Manen showed a sample day which provided 1,589 calories, 58.5 grams of fat, 71 grams of protein, and 2,404 mg of sodium. She said all the menu items were tested for taste, using the Burlodge cart which heats the frozen meals. A satisfaction survey is slated to be done in a few months, she added. One challenge, she said is the decreased flexibility, compared to having a traditional kitchen. ''It's difficult to offer a variety for patients with multiple intolerances and allergies or restricted diets, but on the plus side, we have consistent portion control, and consistent nutrient control.'' Also, three weeks ago, the health centre implemented a composting program at all four sites, allowing the entire food meal container to be composted and not thrown in the garbage, she said. The cost-savings is a major factor in the switch to the new food delivery service, she said. Under the traditional kitchen system, the patient per meal day cost was $78.99, said Van Manen. With the new food delivery service in place at all four sites, the cost is now $59.89 per meal day Davies said the average cost per meal for hospitals of comparable size, is $30-$45. "Our food costs were $1.5-million before we implemented the new food delivery system," he said. "We have reduced the per meal day cost by $19, saving us about one-third the cost, or $500,000."
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Davies
said there was some reduction in employees when the new system was
implemented, but a multi-service program was also put in place for
dietary and housekeeping. Plus, the additional building at the
Walkerton hospital required more staff, so there was not an overall
loss of employment, he said. As for complaints about the poor quality of the hospital food, Davies said the low-fat, low-sodium diet is healthier but not necessarily appealing. "It's the same as the fact that we don't have pop or chocolate bars available in vending machines at the hospitals anymore," he said. "People don't like what's good for them." He said the number of complaints has dropped off. "The general dissatisfaction is geared to the fact that patients are eating right instead of what they want." As to questions about product from China being served at the hospitals, Van Manen said the labelling has changed so that if any of the processing is done outside Canada, it has to be on the label. Consequently, the fruit cups say "Product of China." She said the health centre uses several companies to provide the frozen meals, including Apartito of Toronto and Health Care Food Service of Ottawa, distributed by Sisco Foods. Any questions about improper food service for patients on specialized diets, she said, can be attributed to problems during admittance. And Davies said while the menu items individually seem inappropriate for a diabetic, for example, the entire day's menu overall is balanced. He said there are no guidelines for food served in hospitals. So, the traditional kitchens served good food but not necessarily items that were health-wise, as are being served now. Van Manen added that some of the confusion about the dietary requirements of the frozen meals is that even other health professionals are misreading the labels on the packaging, often looking at the number of grams of saturated fat and trans fat, and adding that to the total fat content of the meal. She added that the same portion-sized meal is served to each patient as dictated by Health Canada. If a patient were still hungry, he or she could have a sandwich with the meal. Also, if a patient were admitted after the meals were served or early in the morning, there are supplies available at the clinical unit,including soup, sandwiches, juice, dessert, coffee and tea, same as before the new food delivery system. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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