After a week-long diet of nothing but The Ottawa Hospital food, CEO Jack Kitts, MD, and other managers admitted they didn't like what they tasted. Following years of hearing complaints from patients, the Ottawa, Ontario hospital will completely revamp its menu, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
"Thank you for raising your concerns with me," Dr. Kitts said this week to an Ottawa woman who wrote to him, who described the hospital's food as "appalling." "Our management team has recently eaten hospital food for a week and agrees with your observation that we need to improve the presentation and taste," he added, according to the report.
The woman, Gillian Wallace, said a friend of hers recently referred to the eggs her husband was served in the hospital as a "yellow puck of sadness," according to the report. When Ms. Wallace herself was a patient at The Ottawa Hospital, she said she was visited by a physician who asked how her appetite was. Ms. Wallace said it was "very bad," and showed the physician her hospital meal.
"Don't eat that shit," the physician responded, according to the report. "Get your husband to bring you some food."
Kevin Peters, director of food services as The Ottawa Hospital, said the hospital has embarked on a major overhaul of its food services to make it more modern, according to the report. It plans to introduce quinoa salad and other more contemporary foods, salad plates, more grains and sandwiches, and fewer stews. In the future, the hospital plans to make even more changes, such as a continental breakfast.
However, change won't come overnight. The hospital makes about one million meals per year for 1,000 patients a day, many of whom are on special diets.