Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (HRMC) has been selected to participate in the first annual WorkWell Kansas Symposium scheduled for June 30 in Newton.
The day-long meeting at the Meridian Center in Newton will explore, among other things, the healthy food and beverage options available in Kansas hospitals for patients, visitors and hospital staff.
Brooke Bohr, Clinical Dietician at HRMC, will serve on a Healthy Hospitals Panel to explain new policies put in place by the facility in April 2014 to provide healthier food options within the hospital’s cafeteria.
In April 2014, the Kansas Hospital Association (KHA) honored HRMC as the first healthcare facility in Kansas to successfully implement new policies designed to provide healthier food options and beverages in the hospital cafeteria and throughout the facility.
Bohr said HRMC increased the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, reduced the size of juices while eliminating energy drinks and fried foods, and added nutrition labels for daily meals in the cafeteria.
“The dietary options have had a positive impact to not only patients and visitors, but to the hundreds of hospital staff who utilize the cafeteria on a daily basis,” Bohr said. “We hope the end result will be a culture of healthy living.”
In her presentation, Bohr will join her contemporaries from across Kansas to discuss why hospital professionals should lead by example regarding food and beverage behaviors and barriers that can potentially stand in the way of creating change and improving health in health care settings.
The symposium is jointly sponsored by WorkWell Kansas, the American Heart Association, and KHA.
Ken Johnson, Interim President and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, said HRMC’s participation in Healthy Kansas Hospital’s initiative is a success story the hospital is anxious to share with other healthcare facilities throughout the state and nation.
“As south central Kansas’ flagship healthcare provider, we have a moral obligation to practice what we preach in providing healthy dining options for the tens of thousands of patients and visitors who utilize HRMC every year,” Johnson said. “Our forward thinking dietary staff implemented changes in 2014 that are already reaping positive benefits for those who frequent our dining facilities.”
“The program is a win-win for Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System in that many, if not most, of the 1,400 healthcare professionals who are employed here, are frequent customers of our cafeteria,” Johnson continued. “The WorkWell Symposium is a sterling example of healthcare facilities collaborating to find solutions to common problems. We anticipate participating in this event each year going forward.”
Hutchinson Regional Medical Center is an affiliate of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System. Other affiliates are Health-E-Quip. Horizons Mental Health Center, Hospice and Homecare of Reno County, Ray E. Dillon Living Center, and Hutchinson Regional Medical Foundation.
