Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits Tampa General Hospital to launch healthy food pledge

TAMPA, Fla. - U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins visited Tampa General Hospital on Thursday to roll out a nationwide push aimed at transforming how medical facilities feed their patients.

Improving patient nutrition

What we know:

Kennedy and Rollins toured Tampa General Hospital on Thursday afternoon to celebrate the facility becoming the first in the nation to sign the "Make Hospital Food Healthier" pledge. The initiative is designed to tackle chronic illnesses by cutting out heavily processed foods and replacing them with nutrient-dense options.

"One of the craziest thing is the hospital because this is the place people come to get healthy, and we were giving them stuff that is going to aggravate and amplify their chronic illness," Kennedy said during a new conference at TGH. "Dr. Oz and I gave a challenge in June to all the hospitals in the country to sign a 'Make Hospital Food Healthy Again' pledge."

During the visit, Kennedy and Rollins tried a menu of soup, mezze salad, and steak prepared by the hospital's culinary team. Kennedy noted that hospitals should be places where people get healthy rather than receive meals that aggravate long-term medical conditions.

The hospital previously partnered with celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian to revamp its entire dining system, rolling out a fresh menu last October. Hospital officials reported a 53% increase in food quality and noted that more patients are eating all of their meals. 

Rather than offering an expensive, sweeping menu, the hospital transitioned to fewer options made with higher-quality ingredients.

"So we limited the menu," said John Couris, the president and CEO of TGH. "We doubled down on the quality of the food. And we've seen somewhere roughly of a 5% to 7% increase in our expense overall for food, for food purchasing. That's something that we can absorb."

Tracking health outcomes

What we don't know:

While Tampa General Hospital focuses on educating patients about the benefits of eating whole foods over processed items, officials do not yet have exact data on how this dietary change has shifted long-term patient health. TGH and USF Health are planning to track how these changes to hospital food impact patient health. 

"I think there are some outcomes we would like to measure in the long term," said Dr. Shanu Gupta with TGH and USF Health. "Right now, we have a lot of anecdotal evidence of how it's made the patient experience better for our patients."

National food push

Why you should care:

The federal visit to Tampa signals a massive, upcoming shift in nutrition across public institutions. Kennedy shared that he plans to take this healthy food initiative beyond medical centers, working directly with schools and the military to serve better food nationwide. 

Under the pledge, institutions will focus on serving more wholesome foods while reducing the amount of highly processed products given to everyday Americans. 

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