Kansas Hospitals Push Healthful Eating

'Eat your broccoli' isn't a new, sexy message, but healthful eating remains the best way to prevent or contain chronic diseases, and it's something that every hospital in the nation could and should be doing to promote population health.

The best way to a control chronic disease such as diabetes is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

With that in mind there has been a major push over the past decade by hospitals across the nation to promote healthful eating for patients, employees and visitors.

This is not a sexy new topic. "Eat your broccoli" isn't a grabby headline. It is fundamentally important, however, it is blocking and tackling, it is ABCs, it is back to basics, and every other applicable cliché, and it is something that every hospital in the nation could and should be doing in this new era of population health.

That's what they're doing in Kansas, the heartland state with some of the nation's highest rates of obesity.

The Kansas Hospital Association's Hospital Education and Research Foundation says 25 hospitals in the Jayhawk State—many of them in far-flung rural areas—have changed their food and beverage policies. Under a three-year Healthy Kansas Hospitals initiative, gone are the fried foods, potato chips, crème doughnuts and sugary drinks, long the staples of hospital cafeterias. They've been replaced by healthier options, including fresh fruits, smoothies, made-to-order deli wraps, and salad bars with bountiful options beyond iceberg lettuce, ranch dressing and a sprinkling of Bac~Os.

These hospitals are also making prominent the nutritional value and calorie content of the foods they sell in their cafeterias and vending machines and providing their employees with educational materials that promote good nutrition and a healthful diet.

The logic is obvious. If this nation is ever to contain this epidemic of overweight and obesity, then hospitals and their employees—often among the largest employers, and most high-profile citizens in their communities—will have to step up as role models.  

James Blackwell is CEO at Clara Barton Hospital & Clinics, a 23-bed critical access hospital in Hoisington, KS, serving more than 25,000 residents of Barton County, and one of the 25 hospitals to adopt the healthful eating initiative. The transition has been relatively easy, he says, but identifying the return on investment for the hospital's 200 employees and the community they serve may take some time.

"ROI is actually something that is not really quantifiable through a short-term effort," Blackwell says. "We want to lead by example so we set these things forth. Our employees engage in it. In time we will be able to see the benefits but that is a long-term effect."

"That's what we're going for when we lead the charge in the community," he says. "You can only swing that kind of perception with a long-term effect, and that is what we are trying to accomplish here."

More Healthful Options

Clara Barton CNO Jane Schepmann says the bigger challenge in adopting the healthful foods model was "a little bit of a change of culture. Folks really like that comfort food, and that might be a little different than, say, New York City."

"We try to offer a healthful entree or two. There is always a soup available. We've got hummus and premade salads in the refrigerator. We have a sandwich cooler with fresh wraps that are off the charts, by the way."

For the night shift workers, Schepmann says the hospital wants vending machine options that include hummus, fruit and vegetables "as opposed to chips and a pop."

Importantly, the shift to healthier foods does not come with a higher price tag. "We did not raise our prices," she says. "Our supplier is very willing to work with us on items. The company that stocks our vending machines is very enthusiastic."

Blackwell adds that "from a dollars and cents standpoint, since we have made this change, our revenue has increased. We call it Clara's Corner Café, but we also have a new dietary manager who has brought some new menu items that have caused a stir. For example, the salad bar used to just offer iceberg lettuce. We now have spinach and romaine to offer more nutritional value. 

Clara Barton employees have formed a wellness committee to generate other ideas to promote good health, such as participation in athletic events, walk-a-thons, etc. The hospital is promoting a 5-K race this fall, and sponsoring bike rides. This week, the hospital is sponsoring a smoothie recipe contest among employees. The winners get a gift certificate.

"We're trying to give them some ownership," Schepmann says.

The hospital has formed a mutually beneficial partnership with the local grocery store. "We look at what their sale items are for a given week and we are offering the public a healthful recipe using the items that are on sale."

They're also partnering with the local day care schools to promote healthful eating, working with the children to raise crops in the community gardens, and serving those garden-grown vegetables in the hospital cafeteria. "We invite the children in to partake with us, and work with them on healthier snack options," Schepmann says.

Ultimately, Schepmann hopes the healthful eating initiative at the hospital will spark a change of culture in the larger community.

"We want to promote a healthy culture," Schepmann says, "where folks are taking responsibility for their own health."