Below is a comment I wrote in response to the blog post by Dr. Chen in the New York Times. It was such a thrill to see it posted and have 15 readers recommend it. Several readers referenced it in their comments which tells me there is a lot of interest in the subject. One who signed herself a dietitian was very defensive. Basically her defense was that hospitals outsource the food services and that doctors order unpalatable low salt or no sugar meals. The inference here is that hospitals and the dietary professionals that work there should not be responsible for the bad food served there. So then who is responsible when it's your job to provide a diet of food that a patient can eat ? Who is to blame when patients become malnourished and don't heal as well as a result of poor nutrition ? She also said her experience of a hospitalization for a delivery was that after 16 hours of delivery she got a sandwich that was good. Gee a turkey on white tastes like ambrosia when you haven't eaten in a day. Try eating a neutropenic meal of soggy cold overcooked frozen vegetables and some sort of reconstituted mystery meat when you're nauseous and hungry at the same time and you've been in the hospital for three weeks ! Am I ranting ? I am and I will continue to do so until changes are made. What about all the poor people who have no one to bring them food and are forced to rely on food services for all their nutrition. When you charge $1000 plus per day for your care you should be able to get good food.
Pictures of some of the hospital trays I got. One is a bread like block that the menu says is "Quiche Florentine", but it doesn't appear to have any eggs, spinach or crust. It tasted and had the texture of something you would feed a hamster. The grilled cheese is cheap white bread grilled in a butter substitute with a really small slice of processed mystery cheese. It smelled like motor oil so I didn't attempt to eat it. The banana was so green and hard I almost cried because I was so hungry and there was no way I could eat it.
Here's the comment posted yesterday
Demodiva
Philadelphia pa
March 17th, 2011
10:24 am
What could make a great hospital even better is good food and continuity of care ! Having survived six months of chemo for AML I found the continuity of care a problem and the food atrocious at a big city teaching hospital. They have designated areas for cancer treatment but if they get crowded you end up on a "general" floor where you have less specialty trained personal and as a result a less happy patient. The food is all reconstituted high sodium processed non-food. I was even told they keep it that way to discourage patients from staying longer ! One of the problems with cancer is "wasting" and as a food professional it was horrible to see caretakers so desperate to get their loved ones to eat that they resorted to cheese steaks and other fast food from the carts located across the street. If hospitals would pay as much attention to patient comfort as they do to biology the overall results would have a huge impact on every aspect of care. It costs so little to serve healthy food that tastes good. With all the cooking shows and food awareness why is hospital food still notoriously bad. The best hospitals will lose the best paying customers to cancer centers and other facilities who make patient comfort as important as medical care. Then we all lose because those teaching hospitals that make the miracle breakthroughs will have less money to fund themselves.
Recommend Recommended by 15 Readers
Lastly something positive. I'm performing in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Narberth Community Theatre. We're playing to full houses and standing ovations.I play Mary mother of Christ,and I'm singing and dancing again after 10 years off stage. I posted the picture of me in costume on facebook and my son put a caption "My mother is Divine". I love my son. I love my readers, friends and family you give me hope and make me so happy.
