Health Care Facility “Nutrition”

For the past month, I’ve been in and out of health care facilities with a dear relative.  Today he told me that he called in the nutritionist after he got his lunch.  It was fried chicken, with so much oil that it squirted out when he tried to remove the skin.  Last night’s supper?  a pimento cheese sandwich on white bread.  Whether he’s been in the hospital, an acute care rehabilitation center, or a skilled nursing facility, the only fresh fruit he’s been offered has been bananas.  He’s had one vegetable per meal.  He has had an endless parade of white bread.  When he’s asked, he’s gotten “wheat bread”–in other words, bread made from mostly white flour with a tiny bit of whole grain flour added in.  He’s gotten white rice, white rice, and white rice, never brown.  Truth is, on his own he doesn’t eat enough and his choices aren’t well balanced, but he still recognizes that the food he’s been served is a heart attack, colon cancer, and a stroke, all on one plate.  Please excuse me if I come off as ranting, but I can’t help but wonder if the health care facilities are trying to make sure they have an endless supply of patients.  If we are going to fix health care in this country, we need to start with the food on our plates.  And what better place to introduce healthy choices to the people who need them most than a health care facility?

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