Rama Koslowe, M.D.
Medical Director
DIVISION OF NUTRITION SUPPORT SERVICES

The Nutrition Support Service offers a wide scope of services, both to the community and to the other departments within the hospital. The Nutrition Support Service offers consultative services to all other departments of the hospital, including Medicine and all medical subspecialities. Surgery, Pediatrics, Gynecology, and Rehabilitation. We focus on the recognition of malnutrition and its inherent risks in hospitalized patients, understanding the relationship between nutritional status and length of stay and prognosis, in various disease states, and the development of a treatment plan regarding nutritional therapy (oral, enteral, parenteral, etc.). The Nutrition Support Service also interacts with Social Service, Hospice, the Nalitt Center and Ambulatory Center, and is especially involved in arranging for and educating patients and their families regarding Home Care (IV and enteral therapies).

Quality Improvement

We have multiple on-going quality improvement programs. Some of these include monitoring nutrition screening on all admissions in conjunction with our Food Sevice employees, and re-assessment of patients during longer hospitalizations. Enteral nutrition products are evaluated at regular intervals. Enteral feeding devices and protocols are reviewed as well, especially as new products and equipment become available at frequent intervals. Regarding quality control, we review parenteral nutrition hospital-wide for appropriateness of use of these complex resources and modalities, as well as outcomes.