Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-02-04
Dietary Kitchen
AT Ga||inger Is
Held Inadequate
Drastic Changes
Needed, Mason Is
Told in Report
By Thomas 6. Buchonon

Gallinger Hospitals special
diet kitchen is not equipped to
serve food properly to nearly 100
patients whose meals must be
prepared individually each day,
q committee of Gallinger doc
tors charged today in a report
sent to Commissioner Guy Ma
son.
THE committee feels very strongly
that drastic improvements in the
special diets are urgently needed"
the medical group declared. Gal
llnger Supt. Alvin r. Sweeney, in a
letter accompanying the report, said
he concurred in their finding.
The reported deficiency affects
cardiac cases, who are not per-
nitted to eat salt; diabetes, who are
forbidden sugar. and others for
whom a doctor bars certain foods
and prescribes an extra portion of
others to speed their recovery.
Complaints Brought Survey.
Criticism of the special diets came
in a general survey of the Gallinger
food situation ordered by Dr.
Sweeney two weeks ago, after pa
tients In the tuberculosis wards
complained their meals were poorly
cooked, inadequate and served luke
warm.
The committee, which included
the administrative heads of each
department, the superintendent of
nurses. chief dietician and chief of
staff, found the especially prepared
meals arrived at the patients bed
side in worse condition than those
given the other patients.
The reason for this, an inter-
view with Gallinger dietitians dis
closed, is that heated food carts
are provided only for food that can
be carried in bulk from the kitchen
to the wards, where it is served on
plates when it reaches the patient.
In the case of special meals that
must be carried up individually,
Gallinger authorities admitted, the
food is placed either on trays on
an open conveyor or delivered in
paper bags
Seldom Relocated.
Miss Eva M. Marks, chief dieti-
tan, said nurses are supposed to
reheat the special diet foed in the
wards before serving it. Actually,
this is seldom done, she reported.
In about half the wards, cooking
utensils for relocating food have
been lost Others have been requi-
sitioned, but are not yet in service,
she declared.
DR.. Sweeney said he is studying
the possibility of keeping the food
hot for special diet patients by
buying insulated indiyidual con
tanners. Miss Marks said this would
solve the problem for patients in the
main part of the hospital by re-
placing the trays now used. Those
in outlying sections, like the psy-
chiatric department, however, still
would get their food in paper bags,
because the food carts now serving
those departments are not built to
hold containers of the proposdl size
and shape.
The special diet kitchen has been
operating for months on a skeleton
staff, DR.. Sweeney revealed. Miss
Lucie Norman, therapeutic die
titan in charge of the department,
said she has had no nurses to help
her since the end of October, al
though she is supposed to have the
assistance of four student nurses
and a dietitian instructor.
Assistant Staff Small.
Failure to get the student nurse
assistants, she said, results from
the fact that the class which
normally would be taking diet in
struction at this time is SO small.
Even If the students were avail
able, however, there is no instruc-
tor dietitian to teach them. This
job has been vacant since August.
AS result the diet preparation,
which would normally be done by
student nurses who have had their
theoretical training in food re-
ouirements of different illnesses, is
being carried out, instead, by un-
trained ward maids under Miss