AHF Enters into Negotiations with FSA 2009-06-10

The Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF), recently formed by the merger of HFM (National Society for Healthcare Foodservice Management) and ASHFSA (American Society for Healthcare Foodservice Administrators), has voted to pursue contract negotiations that will make FSA Management Group its association management service provider.

FSA Management Group, a Louisville-based company had been managing the American Society for Healthcare Food Service Administrators (ASHFSA) for the past seven years. It has provided management services to a number of other high-profile foodservice associations in the past, including SFM (National Society for Foodservice Management) IACP (International Society of Culinary Professionals) and others.

The blind-ballot vote took place on June 4, after an all-day meeting of the new AHF board at which FSA Management Group and Kellen Co. (which had managed HFM) both made lengthy presentations.

“We had to make a choice between two very capable organizations,” says Marty Rothschild, vice president of sales and marketing for Aladdin Temp-Rite. Rothschild was on the 13 member evaluation committee and will be the new chair of AHF’s Industry Advisory Board.

“We had to put aside our biases and make a straight business decision based on specific criteria the organization had established. The vote was not unanimous, but a sound majority favored FSA. Walking out from the meeting, the decision was fully supported by everyone in the room.”

The new management team will be led by interim executive vice president Keith Howard, an FSA veteran and former ASHFSA Executive Vice President. Meanwhile, HFM will hold its final National Leadership Conference on August 25-28. Kris Shroeder, director of nutrition services at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, will be the first AHF president for AHF’s 2009-2010 term.