Having been around some hospital dietitians in the US (ex SIL, late MIL, some of their friends) I saw the formulaic diets for various conditions. Ex: diabetic, cardiac, kidney. I imagined that a patient seeing those diets might become depressed, rebel, and say "screw it" once out of hospital. I read their nutrition journals = dry rote and boring food.. Maybe more individual nutrition counseling has become the norm. My experience was in the 90's. Although the food I saw being served to patients at UCLA the times I worked there looked decent and their cafeteria was a nice blend of good nutrition and varied choices which hopefully carried over to patient meals. Excellent collard greens most days 
Personally the several times I have been hospitalized I felt like crud, no appetite - just let me die now. Do not recall food at all.
