Healthcare dining trending: Tips to reopen your onsite café or restaurant; new service styles and options at OSU Wexner Medical Center

This month, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s dining operations underwent major changes this spring in response to the coronavirus. While self-service stations are gone, nutrition services director Julie Meddles, MS, RDN, LD, Meddles found other ways to support customers working long, stressful shifts caring for sick patients too. The dining room transitioned to selling individual grocery items that customers could pick for themselves with —bread, milk and berries being top sellers. 

At Milford Regional Medical Center in Milford, Mass., Jennifer Gallagher and the Metz dining team celebrated Pride Month into the cafeteria with some clever takes on rainbow food to recognize and celebrate the LGBQT community. The Metz dining team added Lucky Charms bars that were wrapped up in style with rainbow ribbons, rainbow fruit tarts and a veggie Pride salad. 

Food Management also spoke with Nazim Khan, executive chef at Bryan Health in Lincoln, Neb., about formulating a new menu—and food philosophy—based on the foundations of the extensive body of research done on the Blue Zones. These zones are parts of the world where people live markedly longer and healthier lives. 

Click through the gallery to read Khan's story and to find out what else was trending this month in healthcare dining on Food Management.