Challenges in Today's Healthcare Food Services
by Paul Gauntley, President Burlodge Canada Ltd.

In the late 1980s, following discussions with clients, legislative bodies and healthcare experts across Canada, Burlodge Canada Ltd. identified the primary challenges healthcare managers were facing in the delivery of dietary services.

• Equipment in many hospital kitchens is outdated and food cannot be stored, prepared, or served in an efficient and sanitary manner. This leads to compromised storage space and temperatures, sub-standard production yields, inefficient staff, and inflexible meal service formats
• High maintenance and repair costs result from the use of older equipment. Many hospital kitchens require renovation and equipment replacement to ensure that equipment malfunction does not impede meal service
• Inappropriate food-serving temperatures due to centralized hot-plating techniques are omnipresent in many institutional dietary services. Moreover, the tray systems often cannot maintain adequate food temperatures from the central plating location to the point of service.
• Inconsistent skill levels of staff has always been an issue. For example, the Shepherd's Pie made by Chef A on Monday may not taste the same as the Shepherd's Pie made by Chef B next Monday
• Patient dissatisfaction with services is becoming more prevalent. In addition, old methods of meal delivery and menu design are not keeping up with the expectations of today's clientele
• Kitchen facilities are underutilized because the original architectural designs called for considerable space allocation and because of shrinking in-patient loads. In today's kitchens less space is required and in some cases (depending on the amount of food production done on-site) a "kitchen" is not needed at all, thus enabling a hospital to reclaim space for other uses
• The need for self-sustaining cafeterias is becoming more of an issue. Hospitals simply cannot afford to subsidize these operations any longer. In order to be profitable, cafeterias must win back the "brown bag" customer and entice visitors to the hospital.
• Future regionalization and consolidation must be at the forefront when developing new approaches to meal preparation and service. The challenge is to reengineer today while reducing potential redundancy for tomorrow.
• Reduced allocation of public funds brings with it caution about capital projects. Often there is a need to forgo kitchen renovation projects for other "front of the house" needs or medical equipment. Solutions that push the envelope and consider a "kitchenless" orientation are becoming more prevalent today.

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