Imaginingand Achieving New Possibilities

FM Staff

Over 600 on-staff healthcare foodservice operators and their industry partners gathered at the Westin LaPaloma Resort in Tucson in late August for the annual training conference of the National Society for Healthcare Foodservice Management (HFM).

Themed, Imagining New Possibilities, the event featured four days of jam-packed sessions ranged from in-depth reviews of trends in healthcare management to explorations of consumer dining habits to educational seminars on designing “green” kitchens, eliminating dietary trans fats and controlling operational costs.

In HFM’s annual Culinary Competition, five finalist teams of healthcare chefs and directors provided live cooking demonstrations as they showed that hospital foodservices have what it takes to compare favorably with any commercial restaurant.

Coming in first were Paul Luttman, executive chef, and Mary Lou Paulson, FSD, from Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls, MN (see related story on p. 32).

Second place went to Karea Anderson and Eborah Jones of St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena, MT; and third place went to James Palenque and Julie Spelman of Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, AZ.

In remarks at the annual HFM Membership Luncheon, Linda Lafferty, outgoing president, and Dick Hynes, outgoing chair of the Industry Advisory Board, cited a lengthy list of accomplishments over the past year. Among them:

• execution of an aggressive marketing and advocacy plan to communicate the value and advantages of self-operated food- service to key administrative and other target audiences;

• expanded educational programming for the membership, including a strategic educational programming partnership formed with Penn State University;

• organization of last Spring’s Advanced Practice Symposium and expanded webinar and regional networking offerings;

• a membership increase of 8 percent since last year; and

• major improvements in HFM’s benchmarking program and its reporting capabilities, and an enhanced relationship with Solucient, a large provider of healthcare management tools, metrics and benchmarking services.

On the business side, HFM reported that it had completed its transitional period to a new management firm and that, with associated transition expenses out of the way, it is on track to exceed 2007 budget projections.

Co-chairs for the conference were the “M&M team” of Col. Maria Worley, nutrition program director for the US Army Medical Command, and Marie Nelson, director of customer marketing for Schwan’s Foodservice. Nelson will serve as the incoming chair of HFM’s Industry Advisory Board.