MANCHESTER, N.H.—A wellness initiative that began one year ago at 265-bed Elliot Hospital led to the development of a 500-calorie meal that sells for $2.50 to hospital employees. The meal, offered at lunch and dinner, is multiple courses and encompasses different areas of the cafeteria, said Joe Stanislaw, director of food and nutrition services.
“We try to include all areas of the operation, so items come from the deli, grill, steam table or salad bar,” Stanislaw said. “We want to keep it interesting and we want to show a number of different menus and recipes that are healthy and can be considered a part of a 500-calorie choice.”
One day’s menu for the meal was lemon pepper catfish, a baked potato, Capri-blend vegetables, Brussels sprouts and a fruit cup. Another day’s option was turkey stir-fry with red curry sauce, jasmine rice, broccoli, cauliflower and fresh fruit.
Stanislaw said the 500-calorie meal was the result of a wellness initiative. “We were approached by senior leadership to put together a wellness initiative program for all staff,” he said. “I threw out an idea about putting together a specific calorie amount for a meal that is considered healthy. After working with our clinical managers, we came up with 500 calories.”
The meal costs employees $2.50, or half a penny per calorie; the 500-calorie meal is available for visitors at a slightly higher amount. Stanislaw said between 20% and 30% of entrées purchased are from the 500-calorie meal.
“Our goal was to get people to make healthier choices,” Stanislaw said. “One of the things that senior leadership did not want us to do was eliminate things. Our approach was to educate not eliminate. We wanted to be able to show staff what a 500-calorie meal should look like.”
Stanislaw said he knew some employees would purchase the meal because of the monetary value. “It doesn’t matter to us if they bought the meal because it was 500 calories or if they bought it because it was $2.50. We would still achieve our goal.”
He said that when the meal was first offered, 50% of the staff was buying the 500-calorie meal because of the price and the other 50% were buying it because of the wellness aspect.
Six months after starting the 500- calorie meal for lunch and dinner, the department started a similar concept for breakfast. The meal is 300 calories or less, and the employee price is under $1.50.
“We brought the employees to a point where for $4 or less they could have a healthy breakfast and a healthy lunch,” Stanislaw said. “They can’t buy it that cheap in a grocery store. The senior leadership knew that there were going to be some meals that we would sell for a loss, and they didn’t mind that because the whole point of this was reducing the cost the hospital incurs from issues because staff aren’t following a healthy diet.”