By Healthcare Facilities Today

St. Vincent’s Clay County is raising the standard for the meals it serves to patients, staff and visitors, according to an article on The Florida Union-Times website.

The 64-bed Florida hospital offers organic, locally grown fruits and vegetables, as well as all-natural meat, fish and poultry. Meals are prepared daily from scratch in the hospital’s kitchen, the article said. They showcase fresh, seasonal ingredients, flavor and nutrition. Dishes made from locally wild-caught fish and seafood, eggs from free-range chickens, and hormone-free dairy are featured in a menu that focuses on nutrient-rich “super foods” shown to help prevent disease.

“Hospitals need to lead our community in good health. We’re not just here to treat people who are sick. We are a community partner that sets the bar for healthy living, and we need to lead the way,” Blain Claypool, president of St. Vincent’s Clay County said in the article.

Serving organic food is part of the hospital’s buy-local emphasis. Much of its $500,000 annual food budget will be spent on organic and all-natural non-organic fruits and vegetables grown in Clay and neighboring counties as well as other parts of Florida or South Georgia depending on the season, according to the article.

St. Vincent Clay serves about 150 to 170 meals a day to patients and about another 175 meals daily to staff and visitors. Organic is the priority, but so is non-organic natural food, Claypool said 

“It’s a priority of ours to make sure we know where we’re buying from and that we can support local farmers,” said Claypool. “Some of the challenges that we’ve had is finding a steady enough stream in Northeast Florida to support us to go 100 percent organic. It’s still our goal. We want to reach a point that we’re 100 percent and local.”

Read the article.