By Healthcare Facilities Today

With its “Healthy Meals to Go” program, Covenant HealthCare Nutrition Services can provide nutritionally evaluated meals for discharged patients with special diets, according to an article on the Midland Daily News website.

A healthy diet plays an integral role in reducing readmits, and most importantly, helping patients to stay healthy, Covenant said. 

“When thinking of some of the disease processes that cause patients to readmit — congestive heart failure and diabetes immediately come to mind — a healthy diet could help resolve some of those issues,” Bonnie Hartwick, a registered nurse and quality improvement specialist with Covenant, said in the article. “We began thinking what a service it would be if Covenant could offer some healthy meal choices for patients at discharge, to help them comply with their prescribed dietary needs.

Each meal is created by Covenant HealthCare Food and Nutrition Services with guidance from clinical dietitians to provide consistent carbohydrates for diabetic patients and less than 2000 mg of sodium for those on a low sodium diet. Meals were chosen based on the popularity of inpatient orders.

Discharged patients can order up to three days of meals.

Read the article.