Blogs

FER Management Excellence Awards

By Kent Hamaker posted 2 days ago
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Cynthia Clampitt ,   Rita Negrete-Rousseau, ,   Michael Sherer , and   Rob Townsend What makes a company  or organization exceptional? Hiring the right people, providing a culture in which they can thrive and letting them not just do their jobs, but excel at them. And without exception, well-run companies and departments have strong leaders who understand that their team members’ “job” is taking care of customers— whoever those customers may be. These are the common threads we found in the seven honorees for the  FER  2019 Management Excellence Awards.... Management Excellence Noncommercial Operator University of California San Francisco ...
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One On One With: Hospital food pantry

By Kent Hamaker posted 8 days ago
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In our latest edition of Food Management’s podcast, we speak with Jim McGrody of UNC REX Healthcare about starting a food pantry and creating a culture of culinary excellence at a hospital. Becky Schilling   |   May 13, 2019 Editor’s Note : Welcome to One On One With, Food Management’s podcast. Every two weeks we’ll share an intimate conversation between an FM editor and an industry icon or thought leader. We’ll cover topics from hiring, new concepts, consumer trends, management and menu development. Or hear how an operator is increasing participation or meeting changing customer expectations. These one-on-one interviews provide peer learning ...
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2019 Top Achiever—Operator: Angelo Mojica, Senior Enterprise Director Food and Culinary Services, Johns Hopkins Health System

By Kent Hamaker posted 04-15-2019
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Published: April 1, 2019   Written by   Caroline Perkins Johns Hopkins ’ patients, employees and visitors benefit from Angelo Mojica’s vision. His lifelong love of food comes through loud and clear in his role as a healthcare operator. But, he might have taken a different career path if it hadn’t been for his brothers. As the middle of five boys, Mojica grew up in the projects in Brooklyn, N.Y., where survival meant being tough. Mojica loved shopping and cooking with his mother. When he turned 16, he wanted a set of pots for his birthday. To this day he remembers the bruises his older brothers gave him when they learned Mojica had asked for pots. ...
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Reading Hospital's Marge Kipe looks back on her foodservice career

By Kent Hamaker posted 04-09-2019
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By  Benita Gingerella  on Apr. 03, 2019 Marge Kipe came to Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pa., as a clinical dietitian in 1977. Since then, she has held numerous roles on the nutrition and dietetics team, finally becoming the hospital’s foodservice director, a position she’s held since 1987. This year, she plans to retire.  FoodService Director  talked to her about how her role has evolved through the years and what tips she has for other operators. Q: How has your role as foodservice director changed over the years? Back in the day, when you came in the morning you had to call vendors and you had to make sure there would be food for tomorrow’s ...
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Hospital’s retail cafe rewards healthy choices with price cuts

By Kent Hamaker posted 04-03-2019
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A new food court offers plenty of options, from composed salads to pizza, including meatless options every day at each station. Mike Buzalka  |  Apr 01, 2019 The multistation retail café in the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center complex in Baltimore not only features seven modern cuisine stations emphasizing customization and to-order preparation, but they also promote healthy and plant-based dining through both the menu approach and the pricing structure. Healthy dining is encouraged by offering discounts based on the meal components chosen by customers while plant-based dining goes beyond the “Meatless Monday” approach of single-day promotion ...
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NAFEM presents 2019 honorary DFS awards

By Kent Hamaker posted 03-15-2019
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February 7, 2019 ORLANDO – NAFEM congratulates the recipients of its Doctorate of Foodservice (DFS) award, presented at each NAFEM show to allied hospitality association leaders in recognition of their contributions to the industry. Honorees were recognized at the All-Industry Awards Breakfast during The NAFEM Show, Thursday, Feb. 7, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla. Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) Martha Rardin, MS, RDN, CD, FAND, President David Reeves, MBA, Immediate Past President Read more HER
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On the Up and Up - And Up

By Kent Hamaker posted 03-15-2019
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By   Kelsey Nash   on Mar. 12, 2019 As the tough job market continues and the minds of operators across the country are distracted by thoughts of how to find and keep quality employees, it can sometimes feel like the only news on the labor front is the disheartening kind. But there are bright spots on every foodservice team. Here, we present 24 such silver linings:  FoodService Director’s  inaugural class of Rising Stars—a group of industry professionals whose energy, ideas and passion stand apart from the crowd, earning the notice of their peers. (Ed. note: Their responses have been condensed and lightly edited.) Read more HERE
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Foodservice Operation of the Month - How Hennepin County Medical Center built a foodservice program with staying power

By Kent Hamaker posted 03-11-2019
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By  Julianne Pepitone  on Mar. 11, 2019 At Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), the foodservice philosophy appeatrs at first to be a contradiction in terms. The team is devoted to "stickability"-creating only initiatives that stick around for years-yet is also on top of the most current trends in food,  "On the menu side, we change things for the sake of changing things, because there's no reason to get bored with food," says Bill Marks, HCMC's director of food, nutrition, and environmental services. "But if we're going to create and invest in a program," he explains, "we don't do it unless we believe it has stickability-that it will be around five, 10 ...
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Eskenazi Health named 2019 Foodservice Operation of the Year

By Kent Hamaker posted 03-05-2019
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By  FSD Staff  on Mar. 01, 2019 Working to boost the health of folks in and outside of the hospital has garnered Eskenazi Health the distinction of being named the 2019 Foodservice Operator of the Year by  FoodService Director (FSD)  magazine. Indianapolis-based Eskenazi Health was announced as the award recipient on Monday evening as part of  FSD’s  annual MenuDirections conference, held this year in Atlanta. The healthcare system was selected from a group of 12 operations, each of which honored as an  FSD  Foodservice Operation of the Month throughout 2018. Read more HERE
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Hospital Wastes A Third Less Food After This One Change

By Kent Hamaker posted 02-25-2019
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Dana Gunders  Contributor; Forbes Food & Drink When it comes to wasting food, hospitals are one of the most egregious culprits, with two to three times more waste than other food service sectors. UC San Francisco Medical Center, however, has found that one change cut the amount of food it wastes by 30%. It now serves food on-demand. Most hospitals produce food in bulk and serve it at predetermined meal times, which may or may not be in sync with a patient’s appetite or the timing of health care services being performed. With on-demand, a patient orders food just like hotel room service—when they’re ready. “I don’t send you a meal unless you ask ...
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2019 Silver Plate Healthcare winner: Bill Marks from Hennepin Healthcare

By Kent Hamaker posted 02-19-2019
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Bill Marks, director of food, nutrition and environmental services for Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, for his dedication to serving the needs of the downtown community. Marks transitioned the acute-care hospital from contract to self-op and truly made the hospital part of the surrounding community. The hospital’s food pantry is truly state of the art, helping to serve at-risk and at-need patients with healthy, free food. Read more HERE
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Operator Perspectives 2019

By Kent Hamaker posted 01-25-2019
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January 1, 2019  Janice Cha, Fe3 Construction issues.  Real estate challenges. Online delivery apps. Streamlining kitchens. Smarter equipment. These were just a few of the refrains we heard when talking to five operators—three commercial, Captain D’s, Nashville, Tenn., Checkers and Rally’s, Tampa, Fla., and Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, Homestead, Pa., and two noncommercial, Centra Health System, Lynchburg, Va., and Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.—about the year ahead. Most are optimistic. All are laser-focused on controlling what costs they can and mitigating those they can’t while working to expand and grow. Almost everyone we spoke with mentioned ...
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How chefs at St. Jude are cooking up feel-better fuel

By Kent Hamaker posted 01-09-2019
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By Lynn Freehill-Maye January 2, 2019 Not long ago, chef Rick Farmer got a call from a mom who was desperate. Her little boy was being treated for cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. And he hadn’t eaten in seven days. Farmer offered to prepare the young South Korean patient a taste of home. But the boy’s mother was sure he couldn’t get the ingredients or flavors right. Her son loved black-skinned chicken stewed with ginger, garlic and carrots in a clay dish with healing properties, she said. There was just no way a chef could do that in the middle of Tennessee. Read more HER
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Hospital system changing menus, changing minds

By Kent Hamaker posted 01-02-2019
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After streamlining its systems and re-thinking “hospital food,” UCHealth in Northern Colorado wins fans for its restaurant-style meals. Jennifer Crain   |   Dec 12, 2018 In two northern Colorado communities, people in search of a good meal can drop into one of the UCHealth facilities and get a restaurant-style, made-to-order meal. At Poudre Valley Hospital and Harmony Campus in Fort Collins and at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, visitors might choose from carved ham and sweet potatoes, an orange chicken wrap and shrimp etouffée. Or potato-crusted cod, a nicoise salad with tuna and a pork tortilla. Patients might order a hot turkey ...
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NewYork-Presbyterian adds research muscle to Meatless Monday

By Kent Hamaker posted 01-02-2019
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NYP departments collaborate on creating meatless menu items, analyzing data and educating the community while serving delicious plant-based food in the process. Tara Fitzpatrick   |   Dec 07, 2018 NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP), one of the nation’s most comprehensive academic healthcare systems, will be putting its dietary, science and research muscle to work with a new series of Meatless Mondays, slated to start in February at several NYP campuses. NYP has participated in Meatless Mondays in the past, but this is the first time they’ll be integrating it to such a big extent across hospital groups and beyond. A joint research study between NYP, ...
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Eisenberg Transitions to a New Healthcare Challenge

By Kent Hamaker posted 12-20-2018
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Longtime Swedish Hospital executive chef now oversees dining services at Rogue Valley Manor senior living facility. Mike Buzalka   |   Dec 12, 2018 Eric Eisenberg has been a prominent figure in the healthcare foodservice community for a long time as executive chef at Swedish Hospital in Seattle and as a fixture in Association of Healthcare Foodservices (AHF) conferences and culinary competitions. Now, while he remains in the healthcare field, he has transitioned to a whole new kind of operation: a high-end CCRC called Rogue Valley Manor in Medford, Ore., which is one of 13 high-end senior living communities operated by Pacific Retirement ...
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11 Noncommercial Operations Named Best Places to Work

By Kent Hamaker posted 12-17-2018
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Of the companies named on  Glassdoor’s  list of the  100 best places to work in 2019 , 11 slots belonged to noncommercial operators. Ten hospitals and one contract feeder landed on the yearly ranking, which is based on employees’ evaluations of their jobs, work environment and employer practices for the preceding year. Read more HERE
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Eskenazi Health: The Hospital That Gives Back

By Kent Hamaker posted 12-10-2018
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By  Julianne Pepitone Meet the FSD: Tom Thaman,  Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Eskenazi Health Q: What are your goals for the coming year? A: We’ve made great progress in increasing local procurement, but we want to go even further and continue to promote Indiana commerce. We’re also looking at opportunities to add more storage space, as well as create a succession plan for my position. I’m not retiring tomorrow or anything, but because I’m at the back half of my career, I want to make sure we’re well set up for the future. Read more HERE
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Food as Medicine

By Kent Hamaker posted 11-07-2018
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The connection between wellness and food is getting more obvious all the time. Here’s how foodservice professionals are walking the walk and helping their customers get balanced and feel great through better-in-every-way, expertly marketed, clearly communicated, fully functional nutrition. Tara Fitzpatrick   |   Nov 06, 2018 Famous ancient doctor Hippocrates once said, “Let your food be your medicine.” But somehow along the way, that message seemed to be lost to the sands of time. Within the last few years, though, it’s being rediscovered. The medical community is looking to foodservice professionals to essentially “keep the doctor away,” but it’s ...
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FER Will Honor 18 With Industry Excellence Awards

By Kent Hamaker posted 11-06-2018
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A McDonald’s veteran, Bloomin’ Brands, Shake Shack, and TriMark are only a few of the 18 recipients of   Foodservice Equipment Reports’   2019 Industry Excellence Awards. The honors go to seven organizations for Management Excellence, six Young Lions, and five Industry Service leaders. Management Excellence Awards   recognize excellence in the management of unit and facilities development, design, E&S purchasing and maintenance functions in commercial and noncommercial foodservice operations; in the delivery and performance of E&S functions and services by E&S dealers and distributors; and in the delivery of services by foodservice consulting ...
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