An apple a day can’t keep the doctor away entirely—but it can lead to better health outcomes overall. In fact, hospital executives might encourage providers to prescribe apples (among other items from the produce department) as part of growing “food is medicine” programs.

The treatment modality, prescribed in concert with traditional medicines and pharmaceuticals, is gaining traction at large hospital systems across the nation. Through “food is medicine” programs, centers, and partnerships, medical professionals are prescribing medically tailored produce, groceries, and meals; providing targeted nutrition education to patients and surrounding communities; and screening patients for food insecurity to combat cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, and blood pressure, and decrease the risk of chronic conditions. And these initiatives benefit not just patients’ health, but overburdened providers: Eating a more nutritious diet can reduce the risk of diet-related disease, bring down hospital readmissions, and lower national healthcare costs.

But how these impactful programs will be funded long-term and at hospitals that aren’t part of affluent healthcare systems is still up in the air.

More hospitals are bulking up nutrition programs.—TC

Increasing the US’s ability to manufacture medicines domestically has been a major focus of the Trump administration.

On May 5, the president issued an executive order directing the FDA to “eliminate regulatory barriers” for drugmakers to help boost their domestic manufacturing capabilities. The Trump administration also recently added around 600 generic drugs to its direct-to-consumer platform TrumpRx.

Today, nearly 80% of generic tablets and capsules in the US are imported from other countries, according to data from nonprofit research organization Brookings.

Mark Cuban recently told Healthcare Brew the cost of the application drugmakers must submit to the FDA for permission to manufacture a generic drug—called Abbreviated New Drug Applications, or ANDAs—“kills the economics” for companies like his online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs. For FY 2026, the FDA charges drugmakers $358,247 to submit an ANDA.

Would it actually change much, though?—MA

Beep, bop, boop? More like beep, bop, food!

Clinical staffing shortages have long been a well-publicized challenge for hospitals, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. Less discussed, though, are the staffing shortages for other hospital workers, like janitorial or kitchen staff. In industry publication FoodService Director’s survey of 56 respondents in 2022, nearly 82% reported a staffing shortage.

That’s why on March 9 the nine-hospital, Pennsylvania-based system WellSpan Health opened Fresh Take Eatery, a new robotic dining system that uses AI to make hot food for patients and staff 24/7 at the system’s 593-bed WellSpan York Hospital.

Alyssa Moyer, president of WellSpan York, told us this new technology can fight employment challenges and provide the hospital with the food services it needs.

Here’s how a robot is making the kitchen more efficient.—CM

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