Welcome to my Food Service Rotation
Module 1: Introduction
I worked with the food service director, retail manager, and production manager during my time here. Connecticut Children's is a contract account with Aramark since 1997. Details about my experience are outlined below separated by module.
Connecticut Children's is one of the two only freestanding Children's hospitals in New England. It was named by US News & World Report and News as a 2019-2020 Best Children's Hospital. It has 30 highly recognized subspecialties and is continually growing.
Module 2: Ethics and Professional Development
I will be attending the CT Academy meeting on April 27th of this year.
Consulting
Case Studies were completed during onsite orientation 6/24/19- 6/28/19
Health Promotion Project
Shown above, I labeled the cafe items with colored dots adapted from the CDC Healthy Hospital guidelines. Green, yellow, or red. These indicate their nutrition level based on calories, sodium, and sugar. To read more click the "Health Promotion Project" above.
Module 3: Food Safety and Sanitation
Each month Aramark prompt this safety assessment to be completed. If you do not resolve any issues immediately, it will be reported up to the company and will require an action plan.
This is a great tool to assess whether all logs are correctly being tracked, and opportunities for adding items to cleaning tasks.
In Service: Gluten Free Education
I performed an in-service to the cafe employees on the gluten free diet and gluten free foods. The goal of this was to give them a better understanding of appropriate items, cross contamination, and the effects gluten can have on those with intolerances or Celiacs. The cashiers are the point people for the majority of questions from customers, educating them to appropriately be able to answer is important.
Module 4: Purchasing, Recieving, Storage and Inventory
During my first week I learned how to use Ariba, Aramark's online ordering system. Since then, I place orders every other day using the paper copy that the food manager creates. Above is an example of an order.
Since we are a special account due to limited space, we can order 4x/week versus the normal 3x/week. This allows us to only order what is needed and helps us keep the limited storage we have organized and to code.
Module 5: Production and Service Systems
I completed a manual diet analysis for specified nutrients on a provided regular diet. Next, I manipulated the food items to fit into a low sodium, low carbohydrate, and low cholesterol version. To complete the menu analysis I used the FDA's global search on their Food and Nutrition Service page. See the details in the two links below.
Diet Manual
The facility doesn't have a normal "diet manual" as there are so many different diet and mixes of diets. Currently, they use paper menus which are checked by diet tech's when it is a special diet. The tech's go over menu's with the chef's prior to preparation.
On the right are binders with protocol's and information for certain diet's, as well as the guidelines for low phosphorous, low sodium, and carb counting.
The whole ordering process will change with the new electronic menu (CBORD) that is coming in February.
Module 6: Quality Management and Productivity
Davene and I created this recognition board (shown on R) to make a dedicated space for employee recognition and engagement!
I was able to attend many different meeting with my food service director which was a great experience. It allowed me to see all of the different ways our departments interconnect and how we address issues to strive for our goal of providing world class care.
I was also able to attend meetings around the new pediatric menu we are creating through CBORD. This has been a large project that has required alot of specific changes to the pediatric menu they provide due to how specialized our patients are.
Above is a detailed description of the work I did on improving the process for snack delivery. This covered both distribution from the kitchen, as well as direct delivery to the patient. Being a children's hospital, this process can be more complicated due to different policies when children are young and diabetic, or on an eating disorder protocol. Patient safety is the number one goal, being able to monitor the process and discuss it with foodservice and clinical nutrition prompted great new ideas on how to streamline and maintain safety and time sensative delivery.
Above is a description of the continuous quality improvement measures that are taken at Connecticut Children's.
The foodservice department was just awarded their 5th award for being "DMS board super stars" (pictured above). This is to acknowledge the excellent work they do tracking metrics in their department. These awards are given once a month to one department in the hospital.
Module 7: Human Resources
Employee Orientation:
Orientation for new employees is a multi-day process at Connecticut Childrens. Their on-boarding procedure is very impressive and extra attention is placed on specific care for children and the culture of the hospital.
All new hire's attend a course called Safety Starts with Me, this is an all day event run by Cheryl Hoey, the Chief Nursing Officer. It revolves around the acronym CHAMP: Communicate clearly; Handoff effectively; Attention to detail; 200% accountability; Practice and accept a questioning attitude.
Another training that all employees attend is Communicate with Heart. This is a Cleveland Clinic program and is run by the Senior VP of the hospital and Chief Information Officer.
HEART: Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Respond, Thank.
I created this document with the food service director to remind employees about what is expected of them. It is currently check-in (appraisal) time and if some employees don’t abide by the expectations it will need to be further discussed. A signature line is provided so that there is a documented agreement and awareness on the items listed.
Employee Evaluations:
These are done yearly, one-on-one with your assigned manager. Performance is discussed by prompted hospital-wide standards. Employees are given three department goals each year, and also need to come up with two personal goals.
All evaluation information is saved online and signed off by both the manager and employee. Each employee reviews themself prior to meeting with the manager and they discuss wether views align.
Module 8: Financial Management and Employee Scheduling
Additional Expirience
Half Marathon:
During this rotation I participated in the Hartford Half Marathon as part of the Connecticut Children's Team! Specifically, I ran for the Glycogen Storage Disease Program, "Blood, Sweat, and Cornstarch". Collectively, our team raised over $17,000 for the program!
Gala:
I volunteered at the Connecticut Children's Gala, with the Greatest Showman theme. I helped with greeting, the live auction, and confirming auction payments. It was held at the convention center in Hartford CT, and altogether raised 1.4 million dollars!
