Kemptville District Hospital achieves Bronze Status in the Healthy

ForImmediateRelease
KemptvilleDistrictHospitalachievesBronzeStatusinthe
HealthyFoodsinChamplainHospitalsInitiative
KEMPTVILLE,ONTARIO,NOVEMBER9,2015–KemptvilleDistrictHospital(KDH)hasbeenrecognizedfor
itscommitmenttoprovidingahealthyworkenvironmentandpromotinghealthylifestylechoicesamong
staff,visitorsandpatients.
ThehospitalhasachievedBronzestatusintheHealthyFoodsinChamplainHospitalsinitiative,which
seeshospitalsacrosstheregionmakinghealthierfoodavailableintheircafeterias,giftshops,vending
machinesandfranchiseoperations.
Theaimoftheprogramistoreduceratesofchronicillnesssuchasheartdisease,strokeandcancerby
creatinganenvironmentwherethehealthyfoodchoiceistheeasychoice.
ForKDH,achievingBronzestatusmeantcreatingnutritionallabelsforallcoffeeshopandvending
machineitemsmadeonsite,increasingtheavailabilityofwholegrains,vegetablesandfruit,reducing
sodiuminsoups,anddecreasingportionsizesofhigh-caloriebeverages.
KDHwasabletoachieveBronzestatusinarelativelyshorttime,asthehospital’sfoodofferingsalready
metmanyofthecriteria.AndreaCorbett,KDH’sManagerofDietaryServices,explained:“KDHwas
alwaysastepaheadinprovidinghealthierfoodstoourstaff,visitorsandpatients–abouteightyears
agowedecommissionedourdeepfryer,andfiveyearsagowestoppedsellingchocolatebars,chipsand
pop.”
Thisawardwasmadepossiblebythehardworkofthehospital’sdietarydepartmentincooperation
withtheKDHAuxiliary,whooperatethehospital’spopularcoffeebar.VolunteerBrendaSteacy,the
coffeebar’sfoodmanager,expressedherthankstostaff,physiciansandvolunteersforbeingopento
thechanges.
“Ithinkthemostnoticeabledifferenceforushasbeenthatwe’vereplacedourformersoupswithlower
sodium,lowerfatversions,”shesaid.“Iknowsomeofourregularspreferredtheoriginalrecipes,and
wearegratefulfortheirpatienceaswe’veworkedtofindsoupsthatareflavorfulaswellashealthy.”
All20hospitalsintheChamplainLHIN(LocalHealthIntegrationNetwork)areparticipatinginthe
HealthyFoodsinitiative,spearheadedbytheChamplainCardiovascularDiseasePreventionNetwork,
housedattheUniversityofOttawaHeartInstitute.KDHisoneofsevenhospitalsthathaveachieved
Bronzestatustodate;nonehaveyetachievedSilverorthetoplevel,Gold.
TworepresentativesoftheHealthyFoodsinitiativewereonhandNovember5,whenthehospitalhelda
celebrationtomarktheachievement.LaurieDojeijiandAndraTayloroftheChamplainCardiovascular
DiseasePreventionNetworkpresentedtheofficialBronzeStatusplaquetoCorbett,Steacy,andBev
Cecchini,theKDHAuxiliary’scoffeebarandgiftshopmanager.
Thehospital’snewCEO,FrankVassallo,ispleasedtoseeKDHtakingaleadershiproleinthisinitiative.
“Asahospital,Ibelievewehavearesponsibilitytobearolemodel,”hesaid.“Weknowthatproviding
healthyfoodchoicesforthemembersofthecommunitiesweserveisanimportantwaytoreducerisk
factorsforchronicdisease.”
“What’smore,”headded,“promotinghealthyfoodchoicesintheworkplacesupportsthehealthand
wellbeingofourstaff,andenablesthemtodeliverthebestpossiblepatientcare.”
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AboutKemptvilleDistrictHospital
KemptvilleDistrictHospitalisAccreditedwithExemplaryStanding,thehighestrankingbestowedby
AccreditationCanada.Committedtobuildinghealthiercommunities,weareamodelofhospital-led
integratedhealthserviceswithintheprovincialhealthsystem.KemptvilleDistrictHospitalconsistently
ranksamongthetophospitalsinOntarioforbothpatientandemployeesatisfaction.Weprideourselves
onbeingagoodpartnerwithinthesystem.KemptvilleDistrictHospitalprovidesprimarycare
managementservices,acutecarehospitalservices,andadvancedorthopaediccare.
Forfurtherinformationcontact:
JennyRead,CommunicationsLead
T:613-258-6133extension223
Email:jread@kdh.on.ca
www.kdh.on.ca
Lefttoright:BevCecchini,BrendaSteacy,AndreaCorbett,AndraTaylorandLaurieDojeiji