12 hospitals with the healthiest food options

Which hospitals provide healthy meals that can prevent and even reverse chronic disease?

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine — a nonprofit of 12,000 providers — recently went on a quest to find out.

The committee obtained patient menus from 24 U.S. hospitals, analyzed the menus and then ranked the hospitals based on whether patient menus offer healthful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, cholesterol-free entrées and soy milk. Hospitals also earned points for Meatless Mondays, gardens and farmers markets, according to the committee's report.

Hospitals lost points if they have contracts with fast food restaurants such as Chick-fil-A, McDonald's and Wendy's.

According to the committee's report, Aspen (Colo.) Valley Hospital, which participates in Meatless Mondays and offers healthful entrées each day, and Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital, which has a 2,242-square-foot organic rooftop garden that supplies vegetables and herbs for patient meals, both scored 90 points and tied for first place.

These and the other hospitals in the committee's report represent public and private hospitals ranging in size from dozens of beds to more than 1,000 beds. The final selection of hospitals was drawn from a list of 262 hospitals surveyed, including the 50 largest public hospitals and at least one hospital in every state.

Here are the top 12 hospitals and their patient food score.

Aspen Valley Hospital - 90 percent

Stony Brook University Hospital - 90 percent

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) - 86 percent

Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, N.Y.) - 86 percent

Wexner Medical Center (Columbus, Ohio) - 83 percent

St. Luke's Boise (Idaho) Medical Center - 82 percent

EvergreenHealth Monroe (Wash.) - 78 percent

Memorial University Medical Center (Savannah, Ga.) - 78 percent

Sibley Memorial Hospital (Washington, D.C.) - 78 percent

Eskenazi Hospital (Indianapolis) - 76 percent

Lexington (Neb.) Regional Health Center - 76 percent

Central Vermont Medical Center (Berlin) - 76 percent

 

 

More articles on population health:

Ad campaign targets hospitals for ties to Chick-fil-A, other fast-food chains: 5 things to know
7 things to know about the state of population health and the gaps in progress

 

 

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