Healthy Hospital Program

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Try these great ways to promote new healthy plant-based options at your hospital.

Educate Your Hospital

Educate your staff, visitors, and patients on the importance of adding plant-based options.

Share the power of nutrition for health while earning free continuing education credits with NutritionCME.
Lead an educational session for your colleagues, the community, or patients by offering a class by a specially trained Food for Life instructor or hosting a film screening (such as Forks Over Knives).
Conduct an in-service to watch the American Hospital Association's Healthy Hospital Food Webinar.
Partner with us on employee wellness, coordinating an employee challenge or a lunch and learn: The Physicians Committee is available to customize programs to motivate your staff. Contact us!

Do a tasting for your staff, gather feedback, and implement the most popular items on your cafeteria menu.
Let everyone know about the new plant-based options with social media engagement, table tents on cafeteria trays and tables, digital menu boards, digital ads on patient TVs, and signage posted around the hospital advertising the availability of plant-based options.
Share talking points with your nurses, dietitians, and food service associates that will allow them to enthusiastically offer the plant-based options to their patients.
Make the plant-based option the primary option offered to patients, before meat and dairy options.
Encourage your hospital to go fast food free; check if your local hospital hosts a fast-food restaurant.

An Innovative Program for Hospital Nutrition: This paper outlines the strategy and outcomes from New York City (NYC) Health + Hospitals nutrition program in which plant-based meals are the primary lunch and dinner options for patients at its 11 hospitals.
Successful Implementation of Healthful Nutrition Initiatives Into Hospitals: This paper outlines innovative initiatives in hospital food, including plant-based menus from University of Florida’s Shands Hospital in Gainesville and Montefiore Health System in the Bronx, N.Y.
Hospital Initiative to Increase Plant-Predominant Foods and Nutritional Education: Learn about a New York hospital’s patient and staff education initiatives that encouraged nutrition changes across the health system.
How Sustainable Are Hospital Menus in the United Kingdom? Researchers used a novel scoring system to assess sustainability and availability of plant-based meals on National Hospital Service (NHS) hospital menus in the U.K.

Patient Resources

Various educational materials for your patients and waiting rooms are available to share the benefits of plant-based nutrition.