When you’re sick, confined to your bed and facing a plethora of needles, shared rooms, backside-baring gowns and the sight of things you wish you could avoid, hospital food is probably the last thing on your mind. But what you eat can have a big impact on your recovery and, ultimately, how healthy you are when you check out of that place.

Unfortunately, most hospitals’ cafeterias and patient meal options mirror the standard American diet and offer foods that are high in processed meats and sugars and low in fiber and nutrients. This isn’t just bad for patients, it’s also damaging to staff and visitors who are trying to take care of themselves and their loved ones as they prepare to go home.

A recent study analyzed the menus of more than 110 hospitals across the country and found that most served food that was high in fat, sodium, sugars, and calories. Some even had fast-food chains on site! While a few hospital cafeterias are doing their best to make better choices, the majority of hospitals’ meals are working directly against the health of their patients, visitors and employees.

In fact, some hospitals are so bad that a subreddit called “Rate My Hospital Food” has emerged where people share photos of the food they eat in their hospital beds (think juice and cereal with conventional low-fat milk, mac and cheese, pizza, and a whole lot more). And while this doesn’t mean to shame medical institutions, it does show how much we need to do to make healthier eating easier for anyone visiting or staying in a hospital.

The good news is that more and more hospitals are reimagining their food services to make it easier for patients and staff to choose better options. By focusing on good ingredients that are sourced with care, more hospitals are aligning their values—including local sourcing, equity and diversity, climate, and health—with the food they serve.

In addition to healthier options, some hospitals are rethinking their dining rooms and removing those sterile, white tablecloths that can be so uninviting. For example, the Remedies Cafe at Vail Valley Medical Center serves food that looks like it would be found in a fine-dining restaurant: dishes such as tarragon chicken breast with pasta and pesto cream sauce, roasted Cajun cod, and spinach-crusted chicken tandoori are on the menu for patients and guests alike.

While the overall quality of hospital food still has a long way to go, these new and improved options are giving people hope that there’s something better out there than mushy meatloaf and watery Jell-O. Here’s hoping that more hospitals follow suit and start to treat their patients as customers by offering them food that actually makes them want to eat! Then, they’ll be on their way to being the healing, life-giving institutions that we all need them to be.