<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

The recent posts regarding g.f. food in hospitals really brings home the need 
for more awareness when you realize that a hospital, an institution whose 
sole purpose is to safeguard health, has absolutely NO idea how to deliver a 
gluten-free meal.   And worse yet, they can't even get it right when the g.f. food 
is provided for them.   This  borders on criminal...since they dare to send 
you a bill despite their ineptness. If they can't feed us, the bill should be 
adjusted to reflect that.   At the very least, you should be reimbursed for the 
cost of g.f. food. And, it's worse in nursing homes, especially if you are in 
for rehab where your level of activity is monitored more closely than your 
health.

Too bad this is the rule and not the exception.   It sounds like some third 
world 
situation where families must bring food from home to feed the patients 
because they are not provided. Welcome to the USA.  Members of the support group in 
Indiana brings g.f. meals to the hospital for its members...All the dietitian 
can say is "Oh...You're one of those."  

The problem has gotten worse in recent years are hospital kitchens (real 
food/real cooks) have been replaced with heat & serve "anything off the menu in 45 
minutes"  room service style programs.  It's obvious that hospitals have not 
gotten the message from those of us at the bottom. We need to start 
complaining to our insurers and possibly even consulting them regarding dietary 
expectations prior to our stay.  By unwittingly allowing such errors to occur, they 
are condoning a pattern of treatment that contributes to our ill health. It is 
also just a plan waste of food when inappropriate meals go uneaten. If insurers 
are serious about keeping health care costs in line, they need realize that 
diagnosing celiac and supporting a g.f. lifestyle is preventative medicine at 
its finest.

Bev in Milwaukee

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *