We Are Health Care, We Are Memorial: Food/Nutrition Services
From left to right: Elizabeth Bettencourt, Sylvia Brown, Miracle Perry, Tynita Barnes and Ashley Regan
The theme for National Hospital Week 2022 is “We Are Health Care”, encompassing every function of our 5,000+ team member health system. In celebration of Hospital Week, we are spotlighting some of the departments that keep our health system running!
“Food is medicine” is a philosophy our Food/Nutrition Services department lives by. Each day, this passionate group is making delicious and healthy meals for thousands of patients and staff members.
Serving with passion
Miracle Perry, Patient Services Manager, says, “I like to make the patients happy by giving them what they like to eat, learning their background and why they’re here.”
“I enjoy meeting new people and getting to know my staff and having fun,” adds Sylvia Brown, Retail Manager.
Production Supervisor Mary Shumpert says, “I enjoy making sure patients are fed in a timely manner with good, hot food. I just enjoy cooking!”
Providing meals for thousands
Just how many meals is our Food/Nutrition Services department making each day?
Our Retail Coordinator, Ashley Regan, answers, “Our cafeteria is usually feeding 550-600 people each day, and our food court serves 700-800 people. The patient count is usually more than 300, and each receives 3 meals a day.”
Memorial Food/Nutrition Services also supplies meals to other facilities in the region.
The demands of producing so much each day can be challenging, but System Food/Nutrition Director Tynita Barnes says, “You have to have a passion to do it, and I’m grateful to have a staff that has that passion.”
Navigating COVID-19
“Sometimes it’s a challenge to accept that the last couple of years were slow with the shutdown, and now we’re picking back up. Today, there may be a line waiting when we open the door, whereas last year there would only be one person,” says Ashley.
Impacting the patient experience
This team takes pride in positively impacting everyone who comes through our doors.
Miracle shares, “Making sure patients are receiving their meals in a timely manner is important because they look forward to their meals. They’re excited to pick out what they want to eat, they are getting what they want to eat, it tastes good, and it looks good.”
“We believe food is medicine, and from a nutrition standpoint, we are passionate about making sure a patient gets what they need to meet their nutritional needs.”
System Food/Nutrition Services Director Tynita Barnes
Making food that heals
Memorial Food/Nutrition Services is well-known for providing food that tastes great. Tynita says that comes from listening. “We do a lot of retail surveys and focus groups to get feedback on what we serve. It’s all about taking care of the needs of others.”
Ashley adds, “If we won’t eat it, we don’t feed it to others. If you’re getting the food, we have already tried it, we liked it, and now we are giving it to you.”
“This is the only hospital I’ve ever seen where people with a regular diet can order whatever they would like,” says Elizabeth Bettencourt in Patient Services.
Thank you for the work you do to keep our patients and staff healthy and well!