BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – If you’re going to the University of Vermont Medical Center, it’s usually not great news. But if you’re looking for respite, or maybe something more, there’s a secret garden off to the side where you can come and visit.
“When people see themselves in the health care system, that’s when the real healing happens, and I think culinary medicine delivers that,” said culinary medicine program director Leah Pryor.
Leah Pryor started working at the University of Vermont Medical Center 13 years ago as a line chef. Now, federal officials are visiting the hospital to learn from her program.
“It’s the joy of cooking, married with the science of nutrition, as well as bringing in the awe of nature,” said Pryor.
The culinary medicine program includes gardening and cooking classes, comprehensive pain plans, and nutrition services, complete with a rooftop garden near the hospital cafe.
One patient here says that she had been cooped up in the hospital for two days, and this was her first venture outside, and being in the garden made her feel physically and mentally better.
“Being able to give that experience to a patient is really important because then we’re really able to help move that needle,” said Pryor.
The Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Admiral Rachel Levin, called the program a “move from a disease care system to a wellness prioritization system.”
It’s a shift the “AHEAD model”, Vermont’s health care delivery reform law, and doctors, have been calling for.