By Healthcare Facilities Today

Hospitals across the country are trying to show that healthy diets improve patient health and reduce healthcare costs, according to an article on the Healthcare Finance News website. The Union of Concerned Scientists recently released an analysis of the benefits of improving patient health through better access to fresher, healthier food that supported their efforts.

The UCS found that eating more fruits and vegetables could save more than 100,000 lives and $17 billion in healthcare costs from heart disease each year.

“The local food movement has caught on in a big way in the last five to seven years,” said Sharon Sheldon, health promotion and disease prevention program administrator for Washtenaw County Public Health in Michigan, according to the article. WCPH is one of many organizations across the country taking part in the Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge, a program spearheaded by Health Care Without Harm.

Since 2005, more than 450 hospitals and food service management companies in the United States have committed to implementing strategies to improve their hospital food and beverage environments by signing Health Care Without Harm’s Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge.

Read the article.