Palmetto General Hospital is dedicated to eliminating the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture and build a healthy, sustainable food supply. In honor of Food Day on Oct. 24, alongside Health Care Without Harm and more than 300 other hospitals across the country, Palmetto served meals featuring meat or poultry raised without non-therapeutic antibiotics.
Every year, thousands of Food Day events throughout the country bring Americans together to push for improved food policies. This year, Palmetto General Hospital prepared rosemary roasted naked chicken with sundried tomato relish and Mediterranean braised tilapia. The chicken and fish were raised with no antibiotics, hormones, growth stimulators, animal by-products or pesticides in a stress-free and cage-free environment. The protein was accompanied by roasted tomato, fried boniato and steamed vegetables that were all locally grown.
“We proudly support this initiative and look forward to taking part in Food Day again next year,” said Ana Mederos, hospital CEO. “At Palmetto General Hospital, we are committed to serving healthier food options year-round to our patients, employees and visitors.”
The connection between the unnecessary use of antibiotics in animal agriculture and antibiotic resistance in humans is a major concern among health experts. Four times the amount of antibiotics is used for industrial animal agriculture (29 million pounds) compared to human medicine (seven million pounds). This overuse in animals contributes to antibiotic resistant “superbugs”. These superbugs are responsible for 23,000 deaths each year, eight million hospital stays, and $55 billion in health costs and lost productivity.
Across the country on Food Day alone, participating hospitals will collectively spend $87,000 on 9,000 pounds of chicken, 6,300 pounds of beef, and 2,700 pounds of pork and other meats that are raised without non-therapeutic antibiotics. The majority of these facilities serve these healthier options every day, and amplified over the course of a year, this represents more than 26 million meals and $32 million spent on more sustainably raised meat and poultry.
“In order to solve the growing antibiotic resistance crisis in medicine we need to transform animal agriculture,” said Gary Cohen, president and co-founder of Health Care Without Harm. “Hospitals – like Palmetto General Hospital and others participating in Food Day – can lead this transformation by using their purchasing power to serve healthier food to their patients and employees as well as drive healthy, sustainable practices in the communities they serve.”
About Palmetto General Hospital
Palmetto General Hospital is a 360-bed acute-care hospital located at 2001 West 68th Street in Hialeah, Florida and is a part of Tenet Healthcare. The hospital has served the medical and healthcare needs of Northwest Miami-Dade and Southwest Broward counties for over 40 years.
Palmetto General Hospital offers a broad range of services including: adult and pediatric emergency care, maternity, mental health, hyperbaric, wound care, comprehensive stroke center, sleep disorders center, a cardiac and vascular program that includes both medical and surgical services as well as a bariatric program.
Palmetto General Hospital’s Bariatric Surgery Program has been designated a Center of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and is ranked among the Top 10% in the Nation as well as the best hospital in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale- Pompano Beach region for Bariatric Surgery by Healthgrades. The hospital has also been awarded the Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology.
Palmetto General Hospital is a five-star recipient for Cardiac Surgery, Coronary Bypass Surgery and Valve Surgery by Healthgrades. The hospital has also been rated the number one hospital in Florida for cardiac surgery and ranked among the Top 10% in the Nation for Cardiac Surgery by Healthgrades, the recipient of the American Heart Association Get With the Guidelines Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award for heart failure treatment.
Palmetto General Hospital, recently named one of the nation’s top performers on key quality measures by the Joint Commission, is fully accredited by the oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency in the nation. To learn more about Palmetto General Hospital, please visit www.palmettogeneral.com or call 305-823-5000.
