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Hospital Food


liuzhou

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According to a nurses that I spoke to, our local hospital that I was in, which is nowhere near the size of VGH, used to have menus before Covid. Apparently the food comes from Edmonton now! It wasn't inedible, just very bland and unappealing and no choices were given. That being said, the care that I received from everyone was top notch!

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I had the same experience Kim had during a hospital stay 4 years ago. The food was honestly really good. 
 

ETA— the food at my local hospital has always been good from what I know. My mom was given a bottle of champagne and offered surf and turf when I was born (1980). 
 

 I volunteered there for a long time and the cafeteria was great then. The options are great to have, and the food is cooked in house. 
 

 The hospital center has a lot of national recognition which my parents have flat out said that’s why they want to stay in their home (they live about 2 miles away). 
 

 This photo, of a husband whose wife was in Morristown Medical Center during Covid went viral, and still gives me chills:

 


 

 

IMG_3050.jpeg

Edited by MetsFan5 (log)
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4 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Well, I certainly appreciated the food, but I'd trade universal healthcare for a menu any day.  I know your system isn't perfect, but ours is shameful.  

Be careful what you wish for.

 

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  • 6 months later...

Wow, what a dubious honor to be able to post experience in this thread. Now I realize how incredibly spoiled and privileged I am. Just got home yesterday afternoon from four nights in the hospital after fracturing my hip. So weird knowing I now have titanium body parts. Only because I haven't spent time in a hospital for many years, the food seems worse than ever, way worse than airline food, frankly. By the last day I figured out that the "choose your own omelet" wasn't bad and you could opt for actual fresh spinach. The steamed broccoli and carrots were real vegetables and were plain and not tampered with. We brought our own butter and salt and that was a tolerable option. Thursday chef's special was roast turkey breast and mashed potatoes. The turkey was actually not bad, plain, even moist and redolent of thanksgiving. The mash potatoes were inedible. My guess is they were reconstituted with water. No bread was even tolerable. The concept of toast escapes them. The pancakes were like slabs of recycled cardboard. All salad dressings were disgusting. Because they use minimal salt they overcompensate with dry herbs and spices. I know I haven't used canned beans in many years, but the black beans were indescribably bad.  The English Muffins were third tier something, served sort of warm but not actually toasted and were powdery and very very strange.

 

The menu was extensive and not appealing. They gave you a choice of fresh fruit cup or canned! You could order a cup of one kind of fresh fruit, and the grapes were good. The hospital insists you order three meals a day and encourages large amounts in every order. I ate less than half of anything. In other words my husband had plenty to eat. The crackers and cheeses from home saved my life and a friend brought me some excellent cookies.

 

I learned why so many people in America love oxycodone. The staff was amazing in every way, from doctors to janitors. I got a ride home in a gurney transport from two hilarious guys. Whatever they had been smoking I wish they would have offered me some. Their GPS on board was, of all things, a MAN who gave them insane directions to the house, but that was the highlight of the four days. The three of us were in stitches, the good kind. 

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Sorry indeed about your mishap and confounded by your horrible food.    Next time, and I hope there isn't one, opt for CPMC Van Ness in SF.    Truly outstanding food.   Order yourself from an extensive menu.  Delivered individually within 20 minutes.     Great orthopaedic care.  

Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)
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eGullet member #80.

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From a fellow titanium hip owner - I was amazed at how quickly I was quite mobile. Nor far or fast at first but I was walking without mechanical aid of any kind after about my 5th day at home. I wish the same for you.

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Although I started this topic and have had more than my fair share to contribute to it recently, I always feel disturbed when I see it revived.

 

Wishing you a speedy recovery @Katie Meadow and sorry to read of your pitiful sustenance during your incarceration. 

 

I will say that it was the medical staff who kept me sane during my four hospital stays last year. I actually missed them after I was discharged last time.

 

Not usually anything to miss about hospital stays.

 

 

 

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Although I started this topic and have had more than my fair share to contribute to it recently, I always feel disturbed when I see it revived.

 

Wishing you a speedy recovery @Katie Meadow and sorry to read of your pitiful sustenance during your incarceration. 

 

I will say that it was the medical staff who kept me sane during my four hospital stays last year. I actually missed them after I was discharged last time.

 

Not usually anything to miss about hospital stays.

 

 

 

Thanks. Yes the thread that pop up that make me queasy are this Hospital Food and the Never Again...thread

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