News and Views to Strengthen Your Healthcare Foodservice Operation™ Ambiance SPRING 2015 and Appetite Controlling Labor Costs Making the Most of Managers A publication of Gordon Food Service® Welcome to News and Views to Strengthen ™ Your Foodservice Operation™ ENRICH A quarterly publication of Gordon Food Service® ISSUE 15 · SPRING 2015 EDITOR “Change is the only constant in life.” So goes the famous quote by Heraclitus. Andy Maier But it doesn’t take a Greek philosopher for you realize the pace of change in MANAGING EDITOR the healthcare industry and how it’s managed today. Danielle Bloom One big change both acute care and senior living are facing is the evolution CONSULTING EDITOR of government reimbursement being tied more and more to the quality of Robin Watson care. Smart operators are looking for new ways to balance savings with EDITORIAL DIRECTOR ® Dana Fillmore, RD, CP-FS improved quality of care. Gordon Food Service is excited to share many ways to do just that in this edition of Enrich. Read on to help prepare yourself as the EDITORIAL ADVISORS Dana Fillmore, RD, CP-FS spring winds of change continue to blow. Sara Kwiatkowski, RD Gerry Ludwig, CEC Whittier Health Network, a Gordon Food Service customer based in Massachusetts, shares its story about how making cleanliness and sanitation RECIPE DEVELOPMENT Ed Westerlund, CEC a priority has helped them to provide both a consistent quality of care and increase resident satisfaction. One tip you’ll read from them is that staff RECIPE NUTRITION Jessie Waalkes, RD training on daily expectations and proper use of chemicals is one of their keys to success. In fact, you’ll hear about staff training in a few other articles as RESEARCH ANALYST Ashley Moritz well. We recognize that labor costs are often the highest cost to a healthcare PHOTOGRAPHY foodservice operation, and managing labor appropriately will help you best Julie Line, Big Event Studios manage those costs. Keep your eye out for tried-and-true ideas for keeping Adam Wasilewski your staff engaged, including specific advice on resolving employee conflict. FOOD/PROP STYLIST Joanie Homrich This issue covers other ideas to help improve quality outcomes, such as the importance of proper hydration when providing care and the importance of ACCOUNT MANAGER, ADVERTISING Danielle Bloom ambiance at meal time. The reality of our busy life often creates challenges that restrict what we can do at mealtime in healthcare operations. But don’t DESIGNER Mandy McCarthy let that stop you. We have motivating ideas that real operators have put to PRODUCTION MANAGER the test to make a difference. For example, we’ll share some great recipes Deb Daniels that allow you to serve favorite foods in a hand-held manner for patients or residents who cannot use silverware. And you can use some of those same innovative recipes as a way to offer more hand-held options in your cafeteria and increase grab-and-go sales. Read on—and prepare—so that you assure the winds of change blow success your way. Published for Nursing Home and Hospital Foodservice Directors as well as Senior Meal Program Operators, this publication provides timely information about food and service trends, industry information, regulatory and legislative updates, recipes, and new products. It is our goal that customers know Gordon Food Service understands their industry, their needs, and that we have the tools, resources, and solutions to help them be effective and efficient operators. DANA FILLMORE, RD, CP-FS, Editorial Director. Dana Fillmore manages Healthcare The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the Marketing for Gordon Food Service. Previously Dana was the Manager of Nutrition contributors to Enrich™ magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of Services for Gordon Food Service, providing expertise in matters related to nutrition Enrich magazine or of Gordon Food Service Inc. Enrich and food safety for all Gordon Food Service customers. Her professional membership in magazine and Gordon Food Service Inc. do not guarantee the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and her background as Adult Foster Care the accuracy of all published works. All works submitted to Consulting Dietitian and Clinical/Foodservice Dietitian supports her specialty in Enrich magazine for publication become the express nutrition and foodservice. Her professional food safety certification is supported by the property of Gordon Food Service Inc. No reproduction of National Environmental Health Association. the contents of Enrich magazine, in whole or in part, may be made without the express written consent of Gordon Food Service Inc. Copyright 2015, Gordon Food Service Inc. All Rights Reserved. Enrich, GFS, and Gordon Food Service are trademarks of Gordon Food Service Inc. Other company, product, and service names may be the trademarks or service marks of others. 51891/6M 14 10 26 features columns in the kitchen 6 AMBIANCE AND APPETITE 10 ENHANCE 24 MINI CHICKEN-SALAD PUFFS The right lighting, sounds, Making the Most of Managers aromas, and colors 26 SPAGHETTI AND SPINACH FRITTATA encourage eating. 22 MANAGER’S MEMO Just Add Water 28 TUNA MAC-N-CHEESE BITES 12 PITCH THE FORK 30 SMOKED-BEEF EGGPLANT BISCUIT New takes on fi nger foods 32 INDUSTRY UPDATE open up opportunities for fl avor Cost-Effective Services, and variety. High-Value Results 14 CLEAN BY DESIGN 33 ASK THE DIETITIAN New protocols are spot on What are GMOs and How ™ at Whittier Health Network Do I Tell if a Product In Every ENRICH in Massachusetts. Contains Them? 2 WELCOME TO ENRICH 18 CONTROLLING LABOR COSTS 34 ENGAGE Top ways to hold the line on Resolving Employee Confl ict 34 ADVERTISER INDEX the budget’s largest line item. On the Cover: Learn how one health network's push for excellence reaches beyond the kitchen on page 14. ENRICH | Spring 2015 3 SIMPLE Need to thicken any of these? Elegance Healthcare professionals turn to SimplyThick as one of the most recommended thickeners for patients with swallowing disorders. Liquids are easy to prepare and look, feel, and taste exactly like they’re supposed to. Contact your Gordon Food Service® Customer Development Specialist for a free sample kit and more information. GFS® Dinnerware provides a classically elegant tabletop appearance at a value. Strength and style are perfectly balanced in simple, clean designs, exceptional durability, and superior craftsmanship. Our tableware is available in a variety of patterns and styles designed to meet the needs of your fast-paced establishment. Contact your Gordon Food Service® Customer Development Specialist for more information. See page 34 for more information. 4 Gordon Food Service SIMPLE Elegance GFS® Dinnerware provides a classically elegant tabletop appearance at a value. Strength and style are perfectly balanced in simple, clean designs, exceptional durability, and superior craftsmanship. Our tableware is available in a variety of patterns and styles designed to meet the needs of your fast-paced establishment. Contact your Gordon Food Service® Customer Development Specialist for more information. See page 34 for more information. ENRICH | Spring 2015 5 Ambianceand Appetite by: Erin Rogers vette Green and Mary Czyzyk clearly recall THE IMPORTANCE OF AMBIANCE the most enjoyable meal they’ve had as Most seniors enjoy at least a certain level of mealtime residents at Inglis House, a long-term care pleasantness when they are at home. No wonder, then, Ycenter in Philadelphia. that when they move to a long-term care or assisted-living It was the September 2014 luncheon for residents who community, the lack of that ambiance takes its toll. The had birthdays that month. The luncheon took place in majority of residents in nursing homes (50–75%) leave the central dining room, which was set with round tables, a quarter or more of their meal uneaten. Furthermore, linens, and real glassware and silverware. The meal, set out weight loss is common and many automatically receive a on long tables for residents to see, was served in stages: doctor’s order for nutrition supplements to help prevent Shrimp and potato skins for appetizers, sirloin steak for the the weight loss. main course, and sparkling cider and New York cheesecake Reversing those statistics might be as simple as for a sweet ending. improving the ambiance of the dining room, says Robert “There was a nice centerpiece and music, and we could Jenkens, Board President at the Center for Excellence smell the food,” says Czyzyk, who is 60. “There were in Assisted Living, an Oakton, Virginia-based nonprofi t people out there serving, and you could smell the food,” collective of 11 organizations dedicated to improving adds Green, also 60. “It was fantastic.” assisted living. Their memory of that meal underscores what everyone For eight years, Jenkens directed the Green House knows, but what’s often forgotten in long-term and Project, a physician-created nursing-home and assisted- assisted-care communities: Appetizing, enjoyable meals are living model centered around residents’ desires, not about much more than food. The ambiance surrounding institutional needs. Meal preparation and enjoyment are a dining experience—the lighting, the aroma of the room central to the idea of the Green House Project, in which and even the temperature—can elevate an ordinary meal residents live in small homes and take an active role in to greatness or reduce a good meal to blandness. planning and even preparing meals. Residents of Green 6 Gordon Food Service FEATURE: AMBIANCE AND APPETITE Appetizing, enjoyable meals are about much more than food. House homes show far less of the unexplained weight loss that can occur in long-term care settings, Jenkens notes. Other research suggests that the link between ambiance and appetite may be underestimated. A review article in the May 2004 issue of Nutrition examined the effect of aromas, colors, food, temperature, and even the presence of other people on food intake.