Morrison Healthcare Announces First-Year PHA Wellness Accomplishments

Nation's only exclusive hospital and health system food and nutrition service provider delivers strong results in first year of Partnership for a Healthier America Agreement

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Morrison Healthcare

Mar 13, 2014, 03:45 ET

ATLANTA, March 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Morrison Healthcare today announced its first-year results from 500 hospitals as part of a five-year commitment to Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA). The progress report was released at PHA's annual "Building a Healthier Future Summit" in Washington, DC.

"We are the first national food service contract company to align with PHA and as the largest food and nutrition services provider in Healthcare, our strong relationships with Partnership for a Healthier America, Health Care Without Harm and the Healthy Hospitals Initiative, have helped strengthen our leadership position in wellness," said Morrison Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Tim Pierce. "We are very proud of our first-year results and pleased that we are inspiring other food service companies to follow our lead and grow the collective impact on wellness and sustainability."

Highlights of Morrison's first-year accomplishments include:

26 of Morrison's PHA hospitals have met 100% of the company's PHA wellness commitments
75% have transformed their registers to provide healthy options
66% serve whole grain rich breads as the default offering
More than half of the hospitals serve Wellness Combos at both lunch and dinner
And 50-65% of Morrison's PHA hospitals have re-engineered their menus so that 40% of their entrees and side dishes meet its Mindful Choices criteria

Morrison's broad-based Mindful Choices^SM platform includes everything from supply chain changes to wellness and sustainability commitments. Morrison Healthcare is working with its client hospital and health systems to implement firm standards for healthy food marketing, wellness meal offerings, nutrition labeling, food preparation, healthy beverages, and fruit and vegetable offerings.

During the past year, Morrison has been implementing its innovative Great Living Menu for patients, which includes a 44% reduction of sodium and a 33% reduction in calories from the standard hospital patient menu. Using the latest research on healthful eating and incorporating techniques that influence behavioral change in food consumption, Morrison hospitals are in the process of:

Offering better-for-you foods at cash registers in place of high impulse, low-nutrient food
Reducing the annual percentage of fried foods offered
Offering reduced portion sizes of sugar-sweetened beverages
Switching to exclusive use of whole grain or legume based pasta
Offering whole grains as an alternative to rice
Using misted olive oils exclusively in appropriate applications
Featuring images of healthy nutrient-rich food in its ongoing marketing promotions

In addition, Morrison cafes are enhancing the wellness and sustainability environment with initiatives such as cooking demonstrations, seasonal tables, and on-site Farmer's Markets as well as community events such as community cooking demonstrations, healthy eating DVDs, a community website, wellness teaching kitchens, and wellness and sustainability summits.

In 2010, Morrison became the first national contractor to sign the Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge from Health Care Without Harm. Morrison has also implemented the purchase of rBGH free dairy products, meat without the routine use of antibiotics, as well as working directly with suppliers to eliminate added trans fats and to reduce sodium in food processing.

About Morrison Healthcare

Morrison Healthcare is a leading national food and nutrition services company exclusively dedicated to serving more than 600 hospitals and healthcare systems. Morrison's hospital kitchens, restaurants and cafes feature socially responsible practices and exceptional guest experiences. The company's Mindful Choices^SMplatform includes the latest in healthful eating and an understanding of behavioral change in food consumption. Morrison has joined the Partnership for a Healthier America's (PHA) Hospital Healthy Food Initiative by committing 400 of its hospitals to improve the nutrition of patient meals and onsite food options. Morrison's alignment with PHA will positively impact up to 41 million patients and 500 million hospital meals annually. The Atlanta-based company was recently named one of Modern Healthcare magazine's "Top 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare in 2013". The company is a division of Compass Group and has more than 1,300 registered dietitians, 450 executive chefs and 19,000 professional food service team members. Visit www.morrisonhealthcare.com for more information.

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SOURCE Morrison Healthcare