Speaking of good food.;) Hospitalized Dad

[LibraryLover]

I am floored. It's garbage.

 

 

[Jennifer in MI]

Oh yes! When my d.s. 9 was in the hospital a couple years ago, I was appalled at the food. It was horrible!!!

 

Of course, he LOVED it! He certainly doesn't eat that kind of food at home.

 

I hope your dad is better soon.

[Lawana]

I agree 100%. When dd was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and hospitalized for 3 days, they wanted her to have 3 "starch" choices per meal. There was not a whole grain to be found. One meal she had mac & cheese, french fries, and a white roll. We ate nothing like that at home, and due to distance and dh being out of town, there was no way I could provide anything different. It was horrible.

[Carol in Cal.]

Even if the ingredients are decent, which is rare, somehow they ruin them, with amazing consistency.

[FaithManor]

We just went through this last week with my mom - three day hospital stay for surgery. I didn't know that a hospital could serve such landfill on a plate! I am pretty certain that her meals were not biodegradeable.

 

I had to keep sending her meals back with the constant "she's type two diabetic" reminder. I thought the nurse manager was going give the dietary staff swirlies.

 

The interesting thing was I personally witnessed that there was a very real difference in the quality of food given to those with good private pay insurance and those on the government tab (mom just retired and is on Medi - whatever) on mom's floor. The guy across the hall had gourmet food and his relatives felt that this was because he had good insurance. Same for the person kitty-corner. However, the mom on welfare who was there for appendicitis was given total garbage. I started loitering in the hallways at meal times and I can tell you....I don't think it had a thing to do with each patient's dietary needs but had a lot more to do with who was paying the bill. Disgusting!

 

Here is the interesting thing. I went down to the cafeteria and purchased lovely meals. They have signs up every where (no HFCS, No Trans Fats, No Artificial Sweeteners, Locally grown meats and produce whenever possible, etc. - yet they were serving just the opposite upstairs). For $6.00, I purchased an herb encrusted broiled chicken breast, herb roasted baby red potatoes, lemon pepper asparagus spears, a cup of very respectable chicken noodle soup, and a bottle of purified water. Another meal was broiled salmon, green beans, caesar salad (some organic greens were advertised that day), pineapple with strawberries, and garlic bread stick - $6.50. Except for a few patients upstairs, I never saw anything that good being served. Those that were literally going to be checked out soon and appeared not to be on dietary restrictions were still being served garbage except those whose family members I had conversed with that identified their relative as having great insurance. Of course, this is all antecdotal because I didn't canvas the entire hospital, just some of the families on that floor that I met while we waited.

 

Maybe its a coincidence, maybe not.....But I WAS APPALLED that any facility calling itself a Medical Institution would cook so much junk for their patients.

 

Maddening!

Faith

[Jean in Newcastle]

Our hospital has wonderful food. We sometimes go to the hospital just to eat dinner because it is really inexpensive as well as nutritious. Unless you were on a very limited diet, you ordered off of a menu of what was served in the cafeteria. And the food is mostly fresh and wholefoods. The only thing I'm not sure about are the condiments.

[Renthead Mommy]

Last Thanksgiving my husband spent basically lunch, dinner and breakfast on the cardiac floor. They served him FRIED chicken for lunch. Not broiled or baked, but FRIED! We couldn't believe it!

[LibraryLover]

 It looks like everyone gets the same food. It's all off the same massive, disgusting cart.

[Rosie_0801]

They fed me like that too when they hospitalised me for gestational diabetes during my first pregnancy (when I didn't know better than to allow it!) Then they had the cheek to tell me they had brought my blood sugar levels down. Yeah, by starving me! Do you think a pregnant, diabetic woman should be eating a mere three serves of carbs each day? One of them was those potato flakes which have a GI level of 92? Do you give diabetics not-food with GIs of 92? Their only concession to my diabetes was giving me desserts with artificial sweeteners. I wouldn't touch them with a six foot pole even if I wasn't pregnant. Anyway, my aunt and uncle brought me food for two days and I checked myself out on the third day and went home where I could trust someone to feed me proper food.

 

You'd think hospitals would be into the idea of health, wouldn't you?

 

Good luck to your Dad, Librarylover, about his health, not just the food!

 

Rosie

[RegGuheert]

Hey, they are a hospital! I hate to say it, but the incentives are all in the direction of serving the WORST food possible:

 

- The less they pay for food, the more profit they make.

- The worse the food, the more food-related medical conditions they can create.

 

Not that any hospital administrator would ever think this way... :tongue_smilie:

 

I hope your Dad gets well soon before the food starts having effects.

[LibraryLover]

We are feeding him.

 

I am sickened. It's an absolute travesty.

 

I do hope people who need prolonged hospital satys, rehab etc., can have acess to actual food. One could manage for a couple of days, but beyond that, there has to be serious health issues assocaited with people recieving no decent nutrition in hospitals.

 

I really did not know how bad it was. I can't even wrap my brain around who allows this.

 

 

Hey, they are a hospital! I hate to say it, but the incentives are all in the direction of serving the WORST food possible:

 

- The less they pay for food, the more profit they make.

- The worse the food, the more food-related medical conditions they can create.

 

Not that any hospital administrator would ever think this way... :tongue_smilie:

 

I hope your Dad gets well soon before the food starts having effects.

[elise1mds]

One of my good friends used to work in the kitchens at a hospital here. He quit because they would NOT let him cook the food right. It drove him crazy. They required him to cook everything to a fully done state before putting it under warmers where it would continue to cook and lose nutrients and get completely gross. When he had to go to the patients' rooms to take their orders, they had different menus for different floors. It didn't matter who you were. So if a patient had a gluten intolerance, if they were "required" to have a certain number of starches, they got rolls or breads or who knows what on their menu. So half the food was never eaten. He never could get through to anyone. He finally had to give up and quit. Bureacracy (sp?) is insane.

[Nicole M]

We are feeding him.

 

I am sickened. It's an absolute travesty.

 

I do hope people who need prolonged hospital satys, rehab etc., can have acess to actual food. One could manage for a couple of days, but beyond that, there has to be serious health issues assocaited with people recieving no decent nutrition in hospitals.

 

I really did not know how bad it was. I can't even wrap my brain around who allows this.

 

It is appalling, and I'm sorry you and your dad have to go through this.

 

I remember after having my first son having the munchies after the birth -- after I got over the hallucinations that I was having from the drugs. I will never forget what they brought me: a gray mass that was supposed to be some type of meat, canned, soggy strings that used to be beans, and "mashed potatoes." I was so hungry, I cried. I could not eat that. The next morning the nurse brought me a slip of paper to fill out to order my breakfast. She said, "Well, you can write whatever you want on there, and they'll bring you whatever they want to put on that tray."

 

:grouphug:

[Rosie_0801]

Urgh! I can sympathise, Nicole! After existing mostly on bean for 4 months of pregnancy, did I want my first non-diabetic meal to be weet-bix and tinned apricot? Another time when I was in hospital, I had my 8 month old with me and I fed her the apricot. One of the nurses came and told me off because I should have been giving her rice cereal! We ran out of apricots so dd had her one and only experience eating wall paper paste. That's what that stuff is made of, isn't it? Maybe there are good brands out there, but this stuff was the baby equivalent of McDonalds hamburger bun, without even having a pickle. Start 'em off with the most processed not-food possible. That's the path to future health!

 

Rosie

[Cathy in IL]

The food in the childrens' hospitals here is tasty and healthy. Especially at LaRabida. Almost nothing is fried. Lots of variety. I can't complain.

 

Now, ironically, when I was in the hospital for anorexia, the food was awful. And it really wasn't just that I didn't want to eat anyway. The food lacked flavor and nutrition!

[Nicole M]

Urgh! I can sympathise, Nicole! After existing mostly on bean for 4 months of pregnancy, did I want my first non-diabetic meal to be weet-bix and tinned apricot? Another time when I was in hospital, I had my 8 month old with me and I fed her the apricot. One of the nurses came and told me off because I should have been giving her rice cereal! We ran out of apricots so dd had her one and only experience eating wall paper paste. That's what that stuff is made of, isn't it? Maybe there are good brands out there, but this stuff was the baby equivalent of McDonalds hamburger bun, without even having a pickle. Start 'em off with the most processed not-food possible. That's the path to future health!

 

Rosie

 

I believe the whole point of rice cereal is to fill the child with so much iron that s/he becomes so constipated that the parent is forced to drown the poor thing in apple juice. I think the juice company and rice cereal folks are in league.

 

It is remarkable, isn't it, that folks in the health care business support and promote such vile non-food. Perhaps they've eaten too much of it themselves, and it's rotten their brains.

 

(I attended a bioethics conference a few weeks back, so I'm especially sensitive to this topic. Ugh.)

[Shawna in Texas]

It is appalling, and I'm sorry you and your dad have to go through this.

 

I remember after having my first son having the munchies after the birth -- after I got over the hallucinations that I was having from the drugs. I will never forget what they brought me: a gray mass that was supposed to be some type of meat, canned, soggy strings that used to be beans, and "mashed potatoes." I was so hungry, I cried. I could not eat that. The next morning the nurse brought me a slip of paper to fill out to order my breakfast. She said, "Well, you can write whatever you want on there, and they'll bring you whatever they want to put on that tray."

 

:grouphug:

 

Well, my sister was lucky. After she gave birth to her 2nd, she was able to get a quarter pounder with cheese, fries, and a coke, all from a McDonalds located in the hospital. :tongue_smilie:

[Nicole M]

Well, my sister was lucky. After she gave birth to her 2nd, she was able to get a quarter pounder with cheese, fries, and a coke, all from a McDonalds located in the hospital. :tongue_smilie:

 

Sweet heavenly day!

[cjzimmer1]

Well, my sister was lucky. After she gave birth to her 2nd, she was able to get a quarter pounder with cheese, fries, and a coke, all from a McDonalds located in the hospital. :tongue_smilie:

Our hospital is a little better, they have a Subway in it. But I very much remember getting a cup of coffee on every tray as a young adult. After 3 days they finally heard my plea that I don't drink coffee and subbed the coffee with the vile orange drink that used to (maybe still is) served at McDonald's. I'm very thankful that all 3 of the hospitals in town have gotten away from the uniform junk that is piled on every plate. Everyone gets a menu and can order as much or as little as they want, whenever they want from 6:00 in the morning until 7 at night. And the food is good. Right after my 4th was born I was positively starving. I had steak for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the following day for breakfast before I went home. I never got around to trying anything else because the steak was just so good.

 

I sure hope all of your hospitals get on board with the idea that people like choices.

[dirty ethel rackham]

My local hospital has excellent food. The hospital where my mom spent most of her stays had the worst food. Yuk! Double Yuk! When I had surgery several years ago, I had terrible food (this wasn't my neighborhood hospital.) They put on the menu a "health shake". I thought that sounded better than most of the junk on the menu. What arrived was a carton of liquid vitamins in a base of artificially thickened milk dyed pink and sweetened with HFCS. When I complained, they brought up a "nutrition manager". When I complained about the lack of real food, she just couldn't get it that real food does not come out of a chemists lab. She started to lecture me about how she had a degree in nutrition ... blah, blah, blah. I told her that she should ask for her money back.

[LibraryLover]

I am sure there are hospitals with decent food, but Dad just doesn't happen to be in one. And wow, can I not type or what? Thanks for slopping through the slop on slop.

 

I can't imagine a terrible meal after having a baby. That's just cruel.

[Laura Corin]

When I was in hospital having Calvin I discovered that if I asked for Halal food, it was delivered from the local Indian (actually Bangladeshi) restaurant. A much better option than the bland stuff the hospital provided.

 

Laura