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Reader: history says jobs will be lost

Nutritious food important for ill and frail people

To the editor:

A few years ago when I was living in Maple Ridge, Ridge/Meadows Hospital food was prepared in the hospital kitchen for patients and those in residential care.

Fraser Health Authority, in their wisdom, or not, contracted out preparing food for the hospital and residential care. This food was called re-thermed."

Speaking to Bernadette Schultheiss, Support Services manager for Interior Health Authority on July 25, I asked her if this food being trucked into 100 Mile District General Hospital from Vernon was basically the same?

She said it probably was.

I asked if some staff working in the kitchen could be in jeopardy of losing their jobs. She said no.

Just as an example, this is what happened in Maple Ridge.

The kitchen was totally dismantled.

The food came to the hospital frozen, heated to such a degree that all nutrition was lost with some of the food unrecognizable.

Some staff did lose their jobs.

Nurses complained that patients and those in residential care were not eating this food and were losing weight.

Nutritious food is important, especially if you are ill and frail in hospital.

Any one of us could be hospitalized. So if you do not agree with this pre-packaged, re-heated food and are worried about those in hospital now, make your concerns known.

If the 100 Mile District General Hospital does lose the kitchen equipment, there is probably not much chance nutritious meals will ever be made there again.

Google Interior Health Patient Quality Care Office where you can e-mail them or find their

address to send a letter.

Google How hospital food budgets affect patients/TVO.org. (This is very interesting reading.)

Question: in winter, if the roads are bad, what happens if the trucks cannot make it to 100 Mile House with the food?

Donna Brown

Lone Butte