Nutrition Counseling Offered At NYHQ

With obesity an ever-growing problem in our country, New York Hospital Queens’ (NYHQ) Nutrition Service Department is specifically designed to help people get fit.
With a clinical nutrition team that provides nutritional screening for hospitalized patients and nutrition assessment for patients defined as “at risk,” the program assures that all patients receive care within 48 hours.
“Anyone in the community who needs nutritional counseling can give us a call and we will work with them and their physician,” said Mary Grace Webb, registered dietician and Clinical Nutrition Manager at NYHQ.
For those with special dietary considerations and/or food and drug interactions, nutrition education is provided for the patient and his family. Taking into account health history, current lifestyle and other factors, the nutrition support dietician also recommends intravenous or tube feeding support as necessary for those patients requiring it.
“Individualization is very important in nutrition,” said Webb. “With the new food guide pyramid, we acknowledge that everyone is different; going to see a qualified nutritionist is very important.”
In addition, the clinical nutrition team provides outpatient counseling services through ambulatory clinical appointments or as private nutrition counseling scheduled through the nutrition services office. NYHQ also boasts a cardiac health center with cooking and weight control classes.
In order to receive the outpatient nutrition counseling services, all patients must have a written prescription from their physician before being scheduled for the session.
NYHQ dieticians are listed as nutrition education providers in several major health insurance plans, including Medicare, Medicaid, Oxford, and GHI.
And now, in order to help the contestants in The Queens Courier’s Biggest Loser contest, NYHQ is offering their services.
“We try in our Queens community to help people do all they can to maintain and control their weight,” Webb said. For further information call (718) 670-1546.