An area congressman is calling for hospitals to take a greater role in eliminating hunger, while an Attleboro hospital says it is already working to address the problem.

U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, called on hospitals across the state Monday to becoming more active in addressing patients who are malnourished and helping them get the help they need.

Locally, Sturdy Memorial Hospital said it has already laid some of the groundwork to help the underfed that come in for treatment.

"Sturdy Memorial Hospital has been considering a hunger initiative since our marketing director heard Congressman McGovern speak at a community benefit program this past spring," said Ashley O'Brien, a hospital spokeswoman.

"We are in the beginning stages of organizing our campaign and will get more details about the congressman's program before determining our next steps." McGovern said about 554,000 people in Massachusetts do not have enough to eat.

"We have a problem that spurs us to seek nontraditional partners capable of relieving hunger," he said in

announcing his plan at UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester. "Chief among these are hospitals."

Under McGovern's plan, hospitals would add a number of nutrition-related questions to their intake forms and put patients in touch with state and federal agencies, where they can receive assistance.

Gov. Deval Patrick also spoke in support of the proposal, along with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Lt. Gov. Tim Murray and Ellen Parker, executive director of Project Bread, a nonprofit group that worked with McGovern and UMass Memorial Health Care to formulate the plan.

"By collaborating with hospitals across the commonwealth, we can create a strong statewide network of support for those struggling to put food on the table," Patrick said.

McGovern unveiled the proposal in a new book, "Hunger in the Community: Ways Hospitals Can Help."

The book, which will be distributed to hospitals through the Massachusetts Hospital Association, included a list of state and federal food programs, suggestions about ways hospitals can help and a collection of stories of hospitals already taking an active roll in preventing hunger.

The book is available online through www.projectbread.org/hospitals and through the Massachusetts Hospital Association at http://www.mhalink.org.