Starting Monday, patients staying at Foothills Hospital will experience
a new, in-room dining menu featuring mouthwateringly delicious and nourishing
fare with heart-healthy, gluten-free and vegetarian options.
The choices are healthy, creative and reflect food trends. Think: chia
coleslaw, green smoothies with kale and spinach, veggie burritos and turkey
bruschetta.
BCH Food Services Director Tom Ingalls said this is definitely not going
to be your typical hospital in-room dining experience -- and that is by design.
“It’s all about giving our patients more choices and with healthier
options in order to create and care for the healthiest community in the
nation,” said Ingalls, referring to BCH’s bold new vision
statement:
Partnering to create and care for the healthiest community in the nation.
“We customized the menu so that there is far more choice for patients
to have the food they want,” said Clinical Nutrition Manager and
Registered Dietician Leisa Norman Norman, "We took time to develop
the menu and design a physical menu that is laminated to truly mirror
more of a restaurant dining experience.”
Ingalls and Norman invited BCH staff and caregivers Thursday afternoon
to a tasting event where approval was registered through appreciative
murmurs of “Mmmm,” and mouthfuls of whole wheat pancakes,
apple crisp, colorful seasonal salads, turkey bruschetta, angel food cake,
gluten-free pasta and more.
"On these days, I don’t eat lunch,” joked Pharmacy Director
Casey Diekmann, digging his fork into a heaping plateful of food.
“This is really, really good,” complimented ICU Manager Tracy Nagell.
Thanks to the new menu, patients staying at Foothills Hospital will be
able to order breakfasts that include a made-to-order omelet or egg scramble
with heart-healthy options like turkey bacon, diced tofu or black beans.
A new smoothie menu features a whopping six different kinds of smoothies.
The “green machine” smoothie is made with kale, spinach, pineapple,
yogurt and apple juice. The “mango lassi” features mango,
nutmeg, honey, yogurt and lime juice.
Main entrees include orange garlic herb salmon, beef pot roast with vegetable
gravy, vegetable burrito, roast turkey breast, chicken mushroom pasta
available gluten-free, and more. Sides include a chia seed coleslaw, roasted
sweet potatoes, confetti brown rice, raisin couscous, black beans and
cauliflower mash. Desserts feature strawberry fruit ice, fresh fruit and
angel food cake.
It’s all designed to feel much more like dining at a restaurant or
high-end hotel room service, with an eye on keeping it healthy.
“It’s delicious, healthy food that will nourish our patients
and be presented to them in a beautiful way,” Norman said.