Dietetic Services adjust menus to serve Hispanic population
As the Hispanic population rises in the Charleston area, an increase in Hispanic admissions has been noted at MUSC.Escalating from 565 admissions in 2000 to 1,289 in 2004, Hispanic patients present new challenges to provide for their culturally diverse needs. To meet this growing patient population’s nutrition needs, Dietetic Services stepped up to ensure cultural food preferences are available.
Department
of Clinical and Patient Education's
Karen Rankine, R.N., left, coordinator, and
Spanish interpreters Josie Silvagnoli, center, and Ana Reguera-Rodriguez
taste different Mexican dishes that will be added to the patient menus.
To guarantee that the best and most authentic Mexican dishes were added to the patient menus, a team of MUSC Spanish interpreters were asked to put their taste buds to the test. After tasting various dishes created by dietetic interns, the potential menu items were narrowed down to include huevos rancheros, egg breakfast burrito, chicken quesadilla, beef burrito, soft or hard beef tacos, taco salad, and molettes.
Depending on the patient’s diet prescription, the Mexican food items will appear on the appropriate menus.
All the menus will be available in Spanish and can also be found on
the nutrition Web site at http://www.nutrition.musc.edu.
Friday, March 4, 2005
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