Nebraska’s CHI Health has launched an online portal where employees can order basic groceries, take-and-bake meals and meal kits through hospital food service operations, according to an article on the Live Well Nebraska website.

Using the service means employees don’t have to go to the grocery store or stop to get takeout in order to feed themselves and their families. While grocery stores and restaurants have stepped up social distancing and disinfection, avoiding them also reduces healthcare workers’ potential for exposure to the novel coronavirus, the article said.

CommonSpirit Health, the parent company of CHI Health, previously had opened grocery stores in the dining rooms of some hospitals in other states.

CHI Health opted to add a virtual component so employees could order from home and even have a family member pick it up through curbside delivery. Employees also can pick up orders at their hospital kitchens. Food purchases can be deducted from an employee’s pay when they order. Prices are set just above the health system’s costs.

Read the article.