Hospital food

[guyser]

There are two things I am interested in. The name of the elusive food company supplying these hospitals and an auditor general for all the hospitals in Ontario.

1) Ask a nurse.

2) FOI request.

You could go to Clements cottage and ask. I see him every weekend, no wait, only when not in Parliament.

[margrace]

1) Ask a nurse.

2) FOI request.

You could go to Clements cottage and ask. I see him every weekend, no wait, only when not in Parliament.

Yes I talk to Clements quite often but he already told me that he has nothing to do with Ontario's hospitals. What do you mean ask a nurse, I have several in my family and they are just as upset about this business as I am. It seems to be a big secret and all decisions are made at the top.

IN our area there is a lot of funny business going on over the closure of hospitals and people are really starting to ask questions. So come on, who are these people and how does one trace them. I don't want to get anyone fired, which is a distinct possibility. No we do not live in a democracy.

And don't you think it would be a good idea if all hospital boards had to audited by an outside source.

[guyser]

What do you mean ask a nurse, I have several in my family and they are just as upset about this business as I am. It seems to be a big secret and all decisions are made at the top.

Oh come on margrace. How hard is it for a nurse to ask the kitchen staff who or where the food comes from. They all sit in the same cafeteria and eat together.

I can tell you I saw Cara signs in St Joes, so I knew that Cara ran the food ops. There is no secrecy.

IN our area there is a lot of funny business going on over the closure of hospitals and people are really starting to ask questions. So come on, who are these people and how does one trace them. I don't want to get anyone fired, which is a distinct possibility. No we do not live in a democracy.

And don't you think it would be a good idea if all hospital boards had to audited by an outside source.

Well now you are venturing elsewhere. Hospitals in your area are in trouble, as is Huntsville, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst. There are not enough people (yet) to facilitate what everyone wants.

But that is a far cry from food service.

I would suspect audits are carried on each and every year.

[Leafless]

Well since I volunteer in the hospital every week I think I should know. The food prepared in our hospital kitchen was a source of pride to the whole community. The fozen slop brought in from hundreds of miles away by a private company is inedible

As far as I know hospitals are not hotels and hospital meals were ALWAYS pretty well basic food.

I am curious though as what constitutes the type of frozen meals you describe as "slop", because I have not seen anything you describe as that?

Edited November 9, 2007 by Leafless

[margrace]

As far as I know hospitals are not hotels and hospital meals were ALWAYS pretty well basic food.

I am curious though as what constitutes the type of frozen meals you describe as "slop", because I have not seen anything you describe as that?

Where do you live, I can send you to several area hospitals that serve this food and you can judge for yourself. And why is it so hard to find out where this comes from?

And don't you think if we had auditors over each hospital reporting on everything done would that not put the costs back where the ordinary man can get his health care without all this fuss.

[margrace]

Oh come on margrace. How hard is it for a nurse to ask the kitchen staff who or where the food comes from. They all sit in the same cafeteria and eat together.

"No our hospital did not have a cafateria, just a kitchen and the nurses are now having their food ordered in."

I would suspect audits are carried on each and every year.

Oh right and where are they.

[margrace]

Oh come on margrace. How hard is it for a nurse to ask the kitchen staff who or where the food comes from. They all sit in the same cafeteria and eat together.

I can tell you I saw Cara signs in St Joes, so I knew that Cara ran the food ops. There is no secrecy.

Well now you are venturing elsewhere. Hospitals in your area are in trouble, as is Huntsville, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst. There are not enough people (yet) to facilitate what everyone wants.

But that is a far cry from food service.

I would suspect audits are carried on each and every year.

Gravenhurst does not have a hospital, I know nothing of Bracebridge, Huntsville has decent food, have you ever been to Orillia, Parry Sound or North Bay as a patient and been seved this food. There are lots of complaints about it but people who never have had to eat it know nothing about the problem. I do not expect gourmet food just decent hot eadible meals. My wants are pretty basic.

[margrace]

Oh right and where are they.

Guyser do you actually know any nurses who work in hospitals that serve this food?

[Leafless]

Where do you live, I can send you to several area hospitals that serve this food and you can judge for yourself. And why is it so hard to find out where this comes from?

I was in an Ottawa hospital and was served for breakfast a hard boiled egg, toast, juice, a muffin and a coffee.

I found that fine.

And then in mid-morning juice was served and toast was available.

Lunch included juice, a chicken sandwich and cookies.

I had no complaints, but could not sample dinner as my stay was a short one.

So tell me what is the usual dinner or supper you describe as frozen slop.

[capricorn]

One food complaint I have is about the emergency wards of Ottawa hospitals. Sometimes patients spend 10-20 hours in these wards either under observation, waiting for a doctor or admission, or having tests. These patients are not offered any food at all. Family members have to attend to the patient's need. And if a patient does not have a family member present, tough luck.

On one occasion, after 12 hours in the emergency holding ward, I asked for a snack for my spouse and I was brought a cheese sandwich. I received two dry slices of unbuttered white bread with a slice of processed cheese. No beverage, just water which I had to get myself.

I guess they wanted me to take my business to the cafeteria.

[RedDaVinci]

I was in an Ottawa hospital and was served for breakfast a hard boiled egg, toast, juice, a muffin and a coffee.

I found that fine.

And then in mid-morning juice was served and toast was available.

Lunch included juice, a chicken sandwich and cookies.

I had no complaints, but could not sample dinner as my stay was a short one.

So tell me what is the usual dinner or supper you describe as frozen slop.

I don't mean to take sides, here, but I think margrace has a little bit more experience. Not only has she been involved in the nursing process for some time, but she herself has been to more hospitals than I have the stomach to count. So when she says that they frequently serve unpalatable 'dishes', I would not take my relatively short experience with hospitals into account as a valid argument.

One food complaint I have is about the emergency wards of Ottawa hospitals. Sometimes patients spend 10-20 hours in these wards either under observation, waiting for a doctor or admission, or having tests. These patients are not offered any food at all. Family members have to attend to the patient's need. And if a patient does not have a family member present, tough luck.

On one occasion, after 12 hours in the emergency holding ward, I asked for a snack for my spouse and I was brought a cheese sandwich. I received two dry slices of unbuttered white bread with a slice of processed cheese. No beverage, just water which I had to get myself.

I guess they wanted me to take my business to the cafeteria.

All I can say is that it sounds god-awful. Being a Canadian like most of you are, I've been through the hospital frequently for six hours at a time just to get an x-ray, a bandage and a French Canadian woman to complain to me that my moaning in pain was too loud and if I didn't stop she would refuse treatment.

The thought that they don't provide you with anything given such an unholy amount of time of waiting is disgusting.

But personally, my experience with hospital food has been limited. In visiting older relatives at any given Montreal hospital, the food certainly did not look very appetizing in the least, but might have tasted fit for a human being had I not grown too nauseous just lookin' at the damn stuff.

[geoffrey]

Got to love Tommy Douglas. Personally, I want choice. I'm sure there could be some hospitals that actually treated you like a human if they had to compete for your health care dollars.

Canadian hospitals are a mess. The whole system is determined as churning out people quickly, without proper care.

My family has had to use American hospitals more than once in order to receive proper care and to have quality of life restored. I fear for the rest of Canadians that can't afford private US insurance. I know I probably couldn't now that I'm on my own.

I'd like to buy Canadian private insurance and spend my health dollars here though, in places with decent care.

Two-tier is already here, US and Canada. We should level the playing field by offering private options within Canada.

[fellowtraveller]

Canadian hospitals are a mess. The whole system is determined as churning out people quickly, without proper care.

Must be Calgary.

My family has received first rate care at two hospitals in Edmonton, on three occasions in the last two years. Really, I could not have asked for more.

Nobody got sent home until they were up for it.

[Frankie]

This is why I am so looking forward to the Indo Canadian Hospital in Brampton.....mmmmm......butter chicken and papadums....

Hahaha, yes I've seen that one being built for a while now when I come home from work. Well actually I left that job over a year ago, so I haven't passed by there in a while and seen the finished product. But it did look very good. It supposed to be a really nice one, for that whole Indian community they just built there...in "Bramladesh". Hahaha. I bet they'll have good food.

I've never had the experience of being treated in hospital, they only one I've visited was the Etobicoke General. I don't know what they serve the patients, but the cafeteria food looked decent. Why don't they just serve the patients the same cafeteria food available for the visitors?

[Frankie]

Must be Calgary.

My family has received first rate care at two hospitals in Edmonton, on three occasions in the last two years. Really, I could not have asked for more.

Nobody got sent home until they were up for it.

It's probably just depends where you live. In the GTA here, it's pretty bad. Like 12 hour waits for scans and stuff. My grandmother who needed heart surgery was also left on a stretcher in the hallway to sleep overnight because they claimed there was no rooms available. Now, I guess if there's no room, there's no rooms (which is a huge problem), but when my uncles got there and resorted to yelling at the staff, they found an completely empty room. In fact, my uncles said almost the whole floor the room was on, was empty...weird...

Edited November 9, 2007 by Frankie

[geoffrey]

Must be Calgary.

My family has received first rate care at two hospitals in Edmonton, on three occasions in the last two years. Really, I could not have asked for more.

Nobody got sent home until they were up for it.

I had a family member that had a heart attack and their care was excellent. Another had a chronic condition that caused alot of pain and discomfort. Essientially stalled her teenage years. Canadian doctors said it wasn't worth doing anything about it, they gave up.

A week in Minnesota and she no longer has problems.

Public servants can't determine the value or priority of services, it's never been demonstrated that they can ever. Let the market decide and ensure that no Canadian is without adequate insurance coverage.

We don't have to adopt the US model. There are hundreds of other mixed delivery systems out there that work very well. Why not look there.

Why are Canadians so aggressive towards the defense of their very poor health care system? We're not even top 10 in the OECD. Why defend a failure? Let's change and progress!

[margrace]

I had a family member that had a heart attack and their care was excellent. Another had a chronic condition that caused alot of pain and discomfort. Essientially stalled her teenage years. Canadian doctors said it wasn't worth doing anything about it, they gave up.

A week in Minnesota and she no longer has problems.

Public servants can't determine the value or priority of services, it's never been demonstrated that they can ever. Let the market decide and ensure that no Canadian is without adequate insurance coverage.

We don't have to adopt the US model. There are hundreds of other mixed delivery systems out there that work very well. Why not look there.

Why are Canadians so aggressive towards the defense of their very poor health care system? We're not even top 10 in the OECD. Why defend a failure? Let's change and progress!

The best way to find out about our hospitals is an onging audit by a body not involved in any way. Why can't we have that? I hear so much about high paid CEO's who can't be even questioned. Boards who run Ontario hospitals are set up to support the CEO and don't fool yourself, I am the chair of a board involved with several other boards, health care typse but not Hospital Boards and I have found out much to my horror how easy it is to stack a board to your own way of thinking. People need to be more aware of what is going on.

[margrace]

It's probably just depends where you live. In the GTA here, it's pretty bad. Like 12 hour waits for scans and stuff. My grandmother who needed heart surgery was also left on a stretcher in the hallway to sleep overnight because they claimed there was no rooms available. Now, I guess if there's no room, there's no rooms (which is a huge problem), but when my uncles got there and resorted to yelling at the staff, they found an completely empty room. In fact, my uncles said almost the whole floor the room was on, was empty...weird...

McMaster Univercity Hospital is one of the best Hospitals in Canada. It is a research hospital that raises billions of dollars in donated research dollars. They have a cafateria that seats at least 200 people and offer some of the best choice of food I have ever seen, the only other being Royal Vic in Barrie. However the patients at Barrie get that food in McMaster they do not. My daughter had a bone marrow transplant at McMaster and is now completely recovered. However she could not eat the reheated fozen food from Ottawa served to the patients. Her husband had to stay there and go down to the cafateria and get her edible food. Her Husband is in the construction business and he had to shut down his business and stay there. 300 Miles is a little too far to travel and he stayed until she was allowed out of the hospital.

Huntsville hospital had one of the best exray technitions in Ontario, he was laid off recently because they could not afford to pay his wages. Wouldn't it have been better to cut back the CEO's wages but of course that is unquestionable isn't it. For the time being Huntsville does have it's own cafateria and the food there is very decent. No one need gormet food, ordinary salads, soups and sandwiches made right there are good enough.

Someone asked me to describe a meal I was served of this pig swill, well I guess it was supposed to be sheperd's pie but it resembled something that had been scooped out of the garbage and it was impossible to swallow. I received this in Orillia hospital where there is ongoing problems, several doctors left. But as I said before there is a news blackout.

That Hospital need an auditor from outside. That was the only hospital where the nurses complained, their treatment and work overload was horrendous and I didn't know a single nurse, personally, who worked there.

[jefferiah]

AH you can always tell when one gets a little too close to the truth. Out come the big guns with their sarcasm and bullying.

Who are you referring to here, Margrace?

[M.Dancer]

There are two things I am interested in.

*1The name of the elusive food company supplying these hospitals and an auditor general for all the hospitals in Ontario.

*2The first shouldn't be too hard for someone to show me how get it. The second may take a little time but I will work on it.

*3 By the way I got a form type of answer to my email to Mr. Smitherman reminding me that hospital boards are all autonomous.

So why is that, why does joe public not have any right to information in these hospitals.

I'm at a loss. I'm really not sure if you are serious or you are playing thick.

1) There isn't one food service company working with every hospital, there are many.

2) Have you ever heard of google?

3) That is a non sequitor. Because they are autonomous they can operate without too much red tape and be more efficiant, but they are still public and transparent.

Simple google searches

Morrison Management Specialists

Healthcare

Morrison Management Specialists are focused on knowing what's important to running a hospital culinary program, and enables their hospital partners to focus on their core competency: patient satisfaction. The sole focus of Morrison Management Specialists are feeding patients, visitors and professional hospital employees. Morrison retail marketing is on the cutting edge of creating healthcare retail programs and our goal is to offer our clients quality and convenient food service through a host of customized internal and external brand concepts. Together they have a strong track record for growth and quality services to their customers and clients.

Morrison Management Specialists' client roster includes some of the largest and prominent hospitals. Key Accounts include:

Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre

Lakeridge Health Authority

Eastern Region Integrated Health Authority

Provincial Health Services Authority

http://www.compass-canada.com/home/default...icle&ID=247

Jim McCarter, Auditor General of Ontario

Jim McCarter was appointed the Auditor General of Ontario by Ontario's Legislative Assembly on December 17, 2004. Jim had been acting as the Provincial Auditor since the retirement of former Provincial Auditor Erik Peters on September 30, 2003.

http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/about_auditor_en.htm

BTW, the AG will tell you the same thing, hospitals are responsible for their own management.

[M.Dancer]

And don't you think it would be a good idea if all hospital boards had to audited by an outside source.

Not only is it a good idea, they are already.

[M.Dancer]

Gravenhurst does not have a hospital, I know nothing of Bracebridge, Huntsville has decent food, have you ever been to Orillia, Parry Sound or North Bay as a patient and been seved this food. There are lots of complaints about it but people who never have had to eat it know nothing about the problem. I do not expect gourmet food just decent hot eadible meals. My wants are pretty basic.

North Bay Moffat, Robert C

North Bay Algonquin X-Ray & Ultrasound Services

North Bay Kesty, Kenneth R

North Bay Bullen-Kesty, Cynthia

North Bay Spencer, Jon

Bracebridge S.Muskoka Memorial Hospital Gravenhurst Clinic

Huntsville Gamma Nuclear Medicine Imaging Services Inc

http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/...00/10298795.pdf

[margrace]

Not only is it a good idea, they are already.

Ah so where do I find these audits

[M.Dancer]

Ah so where do I find these audits

You ask for them. Most likely in their annual report.

[margrace]

You ask for them. Most likely in their annual report.

No that is not what I am talking about, I want an independant auditor along the lines of Sheila Fraser who would go in and assess all facets of the Hospital operation. I have seen the kind of audit you are talking about, they are pretty short on information.