First Person Singular...

When we were designing our program back in 2003 we never anticipated this kind of volume. Back then we were figuring maybe 400 plates per meal. Well, now we’re doing 500 all the time and could probably go to 600, but I don’t know if we could handle more. We now do 1,500 meals a day easy...

We had a really easy transition to room service. We had partnered with another, smaller hospital here in Jersey that had it and we started sending our employees over there on field trips. They got excited because they liked the concept. They came back really engaged and that was big. It was a win-win for us because when they came back they sold it to their co-workers saying, ‘Wow, this is a really cool program, I can’t wait to start…’ It really helped us. The morale started to build.

One thing we’re very proud of here is that we’ve hosted over 90 hospitals from the United States and three international visitors who have come to see our room service program. We’re happy to do it because I think room service dining for the patient is the best way to go.

There’s no better compliment than hearing how patients actually take the room service menu home to show people because they couldn’t believe we have this kind of service. You can’t put a monetary value on that.

My main advice for those thinking of converting to room service is, go see as many as possible, because once you understand the concept, it’s not as challenging as when you first hear about it. For one thing, you don’t need a lot of cooking equipment. We do a 600-bed hospital with a four-burner rangetop. You don’t need to go overboard. The smaller you keep it, the more compact and more efficient you are. At night we can get smacked because everybody’s back from tests and new admissions are in the house, so our guys can be doing 540- 550 meals in two hours on those four cooktops.

I’m excited about the new healthcare foodservice association [AHF] because I thought it should have happened a few years ago. I think it will only make independent self-op operators stronger. One of the secrets to my success, I admit, is our chapter here in New Jersey, the Greater New Jersey Society for Healthcare. We’re a cohesive group and that’s what it’s all about. If you need any sort of information or need help with anything, they’re a phone call away. So nationally, one organization with a lot more members will be even stronger. I think they’re going to get more corporate support and have more funds to do more things for the members.

I think sustainability as a trend is going to continue but the cost factor is going to put some constraints on it. For example, are you going to spend three times as much on organic chicken breast as you are just plain chicken breast? I don’t know. I think that’s a call that’s going to be made by the institution.