St. Francis Health and Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka have pledged to explore healthy food options, according to an article on The Topeka-Capital-Journal website.

A statewide initiative is encouraging hospitals to offer more fruits and vegetables, label foods with nutrition facts, eliminate fried foods and offer healthier choices in vending machines.

Emily Ramsdell, director of food and nutrition for St. Francis, said they already have a wellness program for the system that includes cooking demonstrations using unusual produce, nutrition labeling on cafeteria items and loyalty cards employees can get a punch in for choosing healthy items, with a prize drawing from the full cards at the end of the month, the article said.

Nancy Burkhardt, spokeswoman for Stormont-Vail, said the hospital already offers a salad bar and healthy sandwich options each day, as well as posting nutrition facts for the different dishes in its cafeteria. She said they have plans to meet with the Kansas Hospital Association to discuss what strategies would work best for them and how to implement them.

Read the article.