Gluten Free food at hospitals

[Guest guest]

I'd love to start a new category. How do local hospitals handle the

GF diet restrictions?

I've recently had experience at two. St Helena Hospital and Santa

ROsa Memorial Hospital.

At St. Helena,the dietitian came to me my first day and went over

the regular diet with me showing me what alternatives I could get.

What came was a mix of superb to " sawdust " .

Most of the food is organic or " natural " . But, all too much came

from Sysco which tastes like airplane food. They didn't have a bread

alternative so I always found a steamed tortilla folded over on my

plate. Try as I might, it had no taste. Baked chicken or steamed

fish were my favorites as were the green salads. They had tapioca

pudding and a frozen pudding like treat that were gluten free for

dessert.

I was encouraged to, and did, write in any requests onto my daily

menu. I did not go hungry.

At Santa Memorial, I never saw the dietician but they seemed to

have more experience with GF. I was sent a regular menu with wheat

items crossed out and an alternative offered. Wheat bread became

rice bread which, happily, was the Food for Life Brown Rice bread.

It wasn't toasted, even when it arrived as " toast " in the mornings.

I find it too chewy to eat more than a few bites that way. THere was

no toaster on the nursing floor.

Mostly I got baked chicken or fish which were acceptable. Potatoes

and veges were spiced nicely. Eggs were reconstructed so tasteless.

A few oversights on the menu included an offering for tortilla soup,

cream of asparagus soup, and a pork chop which I got on the day they

forgot to give me a menu and had a flour like sauce over it.

I am encouraged that they tried harder for the special diet. I would

have preferred frequent healthy protein snacks which I eat at home

to the three meals and the long stretch between dinner and breakfast.

ANyone else?

Peggy

[Guest guest]

Remember that GF toast must be made in a GF toaster -- or it's not GF.

I don't much mind tasteless GF food in hospitals -- I just mind getting trays that prove not to be GF.

H.

In a message dated 12/4/07 1:16:28 PM, daynurse1@... writes:

It wasn't toasted, even when it arrived as "toast" in the mornings.

I find it too chewy to eat more than a few bites that way. THere was

no toaster on the nursing floor.

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