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Our Food: What One Patient REALLY Thinks

“To the Culinary Staff at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, the crew of Cuisine on Call and all of the delivery and general employees and in particular the very patient and knowledgeable order-takers:
Since mid May I have enjoyed daily, the finest diet of my adult life. The flavorful selections are all very pleasing to this lifelong bachelor and appreciator of the ‘family meal’. Not only are the selections fresh and hot when they’ve hit my room, but the accuracy of which I ordered (has) got to be nearly 100% (unheard of in most restaurants that I’ve known)! Keep up the good work, and please know, I am going to miss  this aspect of hospitalization as much as the kind nursing staff. YUM!”

Billy Farmer, Patient, CHI St. Joseph in Washington

THIS IS OUR ORDINARY

When we receive feedback from patients like Billy (above), it reminds us that what we do in food service for others, matters. In our daily grind, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. We can become so caught up in the minutia of our workload and technical tasks that we forget our ordinary elements of service can be quite extraordinary to some people. For instance, it’s normal for us to make hot meals and deliver them the way our patients expect: the hot food arrives hot, and the items that are supposed to be cold (like milk or fresh fruit), are cold. It’s not out of the ordinary for even the most basic staples such as soup to be home made in our kitchen by a person who shows up to work, slices the veggies and proteins just like you would at home, and cooks your dish with care because it’s what they do. In hospitals, the cooking matters because human health matters. Choosing what we eat, and receiving something made with respect leads to multiple layers of comfort and opportunity for preference in a situation where most people have very little control over what’s happening. It’s also an opportunity to take in the best nutrients possible at every meal. So with those considerations in mind, we figured we should make our food right – and that’s why we make REAL Food.

This is our ordinary. What’s yours?