The effort to cater to minority and immigrant groups began decades ago in inner-city hospitals, but it’s now becoming crucial to private institutions’ quest for paying customers. Immigrants from China, Vietnam and India have median household incomes above the national average of about $51,300 — with immigrants from India earning more than double, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Hamlin Memorial Hospital in Hamlin, Texas is being forced to cut six nursing positions from their staff due to low reimbursement rates under President Obama’s health care law. While Houston’s St. Anthony’s Hospital couldn’t make payroll over the holidays and Houston’s Acuity Hospital closed abruptly, leaving patients to scurry for care, it seems one hospital has found a way to stay afloat. FOOD!
The menu includes pork or chicken dumplings, fried rice or chicken congee soup with jasmine rice and ginger. It’s an enviable repast that diners take in bed — hospital beds.
When it comes to ordering meals at Houston’s Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, immigrant patients can choose from dishes similar to those they might eat at home: dumplings or noodles for Asian palates, curry to accommodate Indian tastes.
These and other choices at medical facilities nationwide reflect intense competition to attract one of health care’s most desirable demographics — affluent, foreign-born patients with generous insurance coverage or cash to pay out of pocket.
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