Posted on 07/07/2023 11:52:22 AM PDT by nickcarraway
— After receiving that feedback, we knew it was time for a change
When a 3-month hospitalization with Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2000 caused me to be intubated, extubated, and connected to a feeding tube, I had looked forward, finally, to real food after having worked my way from liquids to soft foods. Then solids.
At the time, hospitals were unfamiliar territory for me as an executive with the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain. So was hospital food, which created a particularly unattractive challenge.
The quality of the food was atrocious. I continued consuming undesirable protein drinks while my wife -- already managing our two children alone and maintaining our household during my prolonged hospital stay -- was burdened with bringing me food from home or from restaurants.
More than a decade later, when I became head of patient experience for Northwell Health in 2014, patient comments about our hospital food gave me déjà vu. They were harsh, unfiltered -- and totally accurate, reflecting our poor, ninth-percentile food scores. Some brutally honest standouts included:
"Every meal brought to me was unappetizing."
"Food was atrocious. Not fit to feed my dog."
"People need good food to get better."
These assessments were difficult to accept. How could our health system fail to offer healthful, nourishing food to the very patients we were entrusted with making healthier? Wasn't this contradictory to our overarching mission?
We also had to confront the fact that we were serving more than 10 million meals a year, including meals served in our retail cafeterias, which were negatively impacting our overall patient satisfaction scores. Hospital stays that were overwhelmingly positive were marred by our food. Our CEO had even received personal letters from patients complaining about the food we were serving. We had to take action.
To improve the food, we started where the meals were made: the kitchen. It was the passion of award-winning chef Bruno Tison -- who had never stepped foot in a hospital -- that showed me we needed honesty and clear direction. His work in some of the world's best restaurants and hotels inspired others from the hospitality world to join our hospital to help elevate our food and learn to bring a personal touch to every dish.
When chef Bruno joined our team, we got rid of fryers and replaced frozen, processed, and pre-prepared items with the freshest, most nutritious ingredients. Can openers and scissors were out. Cooking utensils, pots, and pans were in. We began using antibiotic- and hormone-free protein and artisanal bread to create made-to-order, culturally diverse food options. We also incorporated more plant-based food choices into our menus.
We've built new business relationships, including those with local bakeries that make desserts that comply with nutritional guidelines. We're using produce from local farms. This has strengthened our ties to businesses and people in the communities we serve, as opposed to faraway factories.
There was a concern that this overhaul would be too costly. However, we learned that fresh ingredients were actually less expensive than processed and pre-cooked meals. Our economies of scale allowed us to negotiate more favorable prices and eliminate waste by serving food that would not end up in the trash. These changes enabled us to stay within our existing food budgets.
Our patients are now enjoying meals prepared by talented and passionate chefs who care about each plate that leaves the kitchen, just as they did in the finest restaurants and hotels. They're also taking that passion beyond the kitchen, stopping by for bedside visits to get feedback firsthand.
Now, patient satisfaction surveys place our food in the 84th percentile nationally, across our 21-hospital system. Patients have changed their tune about our food:
"I am so grateful for the healthy, delicious, and well-prepared meals during my stay."
And one of my favorite comments:
"I was just so thrilled with everything that I didn't even remember that I was in pain and not feeling well."
When I present our journey at healthcare industry conferences, I'm encouraged to learn that other health systems are also looking to improve the quality of food and nutrition in their organizations. Good nutrition is everything. When my counterparts ask me about Northwell's transformation, I tell them it's possible to successfully change hospital food from being a liability to an asset. They want to know how to get buy-in from executives and administrators: Eat the hospital food for a week yourself and be honest, I advise. Would you want your loved ones to eat it? Would you?
Now that our food is made with care, we're connecting with our patients in a more personal way. We're listening, adapting, and delivering on their unexpressed needs and wishes. We're also serving a sense of surprise, even delight:
"Being in a hospital is never an enjoyable experience, but your caring meal preparation was the highlight of my stay."
Sven Gierlingeropens in a new tab or window is senior vice president and chief experience officer for Northwell Health.
Bkmk
Hmmmm. I am trying to square this notion with the realities of state-run health care.
Remembering back, hospital food has a taste unlike any other.
I don’t know what exactly it is but you never encounter that taste anywhere else (fortunately).
I ate it but it was definitely different.
Northwell is a private health care facility.
While I don’t want to argue against the concept of good food for sick people who are trying to get better, I see this as an expensive problem to fix. I’m thinking of universities today — with fabulous dorms, fabulous cafeterias, and amazing recreational facilities. Life is good at college!!! Of course, the students have to take out huge loans to pay for all the goodies, but that’s fine, right? Meanwhile, health care is very pricey already — but if we throw in some gourmet cooking by talented chefs, it will only drive up the price a little — right??
Maybe it’s not good for everyone to always demand the best of the best in everything. Bills will come due.
I’m diabetic, so when I go into the hospital, what do they do? Stick me on a how fat, high carb diet. I ask for real eggs and bacon. No, egg beaters and turkey sausage. And pancakes with margarine and syrup. And orange juice. “But that will spike my blood sugar!” “We’ll give you a bigger dose of insulin.” Let me have a regular diet minus carbs and I won’t need the insulin.
Lot fat. I can’t eat how fat.
I’ve worked at 3 different hospitals; the food at two were excellent, but the food at the Catholic hospital was inferior. They all used the same food service (Aramark, if I recall) but the Catholic hospital bought a cheaper meal plan. Having said that, patient diets are often ordered to be low sodium, low sugar, etc., which can certainly effect the taste of the food.
It’s primarily due to the lack of seasoning, if you are sick enough to be in the hospital hopefully recovering the last thing they want the food to do is delay the recovery.
That means no salt, sugar, pepper or any other seasoning to enhance the flavor of the food
At least for me I rarely use salt as a seasoning but almost always use seasoning and often times pepper flakes or hot sauce take all that away and the food is bland and tastes completely different
its NYC.
(lack of seasoning)
That was my primary guess.
It’s such a weird taste with hospital food.
Guy tells the chef the food is awful, so bad a dog wouldn't eat it.
Chef makes him place a bet. $20 says the dog will eat it.
Guy agrees. Chef sets down the plate and calls the dog.
Dog reluctantly comes over, sniffs, whines and, finally, after considerable coaxing from the chef, nibbles just a little.
Pay up, the chef demands, dog ate it.
Guy flips him the $20 bill and says, "Yeah, but he only ate a little and had to lick his butt afterward to get the taste out of his mouth!"
If you want to understand how little the medical community understands about health, look at the food they serve in hospitals.
Stay at a UPMC hospital (Pennsylvania) for a week. You’ll be BEGGING for the trash they fed you in college.
The quality of hospital food has a wide variance.
Much depends on which dietitian is planning the menu, where they obtain the foods, the ability of the assistant cooks to follow direction, the ability to transport prepared food before any reheating is needed. How does this kitchen interpret a menu recommended for diabetics or seniors or those clinically overweight?
Underlining all that, I’ve had several hospital stays over the last 10 years for various and sundry causes. I may have something quite plain and other times something quite good.
On my last hospital stay last May, I was served some of the best flank steak and gravy I’ve ever had in or out of the hospital. I consider myself an amateur cook at home.
This flank steak with gravy, scalloped potatoes and broccoli was so good, I called the hospital kitchen the day after being discharged. I spoke to the head cook to find out what cut of beef she used and how in the hell did she get it to be so tender? She was happy to answer my questions.
The secret lay in slow cooking everything, then adding boullion base later on, with a dusting of corn starch.
The broccoli was tender and still green, not like the usual where it’s overcooked, grey and floppy limp.
Depends on the state and the people. The Scandinavian countries are small enough that real problems get noticed by somebody whose brother in law has a friend who knows government officials or a MP. This doesn't work in a country of 330 million. In addition, the cultural legacy of Lutheran duty is still strong.
My experience at hospitals also suggests that they know you're fit for discharge after treatment if you've survived the starvation diet and lack of sleep.
It is a great deal better than what is served in school cafeterias.
In 1980 communities had an average of one hospital bed per 1,200 citizens, aged birth to 90.
Today, that number is around one bed per 7,200 citizens or residents. Medical costs have risen over 1,000%. Number of employees in Healthcare has risen 500% (most are unskilled, non professionals like clerks and office help). Opioid addiction is rampant because nobody can be admitted to the hospital for post surgery care to manage pain or infection, just sending you home with opiates for self management of pain, and antibiotics for wound care.
It's dystopian insanity on display.
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