Hospital Power Players: Henry Ford Hospital

43. Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit

Licensed Beds: 903
Management: Self-operated
Foodservice Head: Angela Crooms, director of culinary wellness
Avg. Daily In-patient Census: 603
Avg. No. In-patient Meals/Day: 1,457
No. of Retail Dining Outlets: 5
Total Annual Retail Sales: nr
Dining/Nutrition Services FTEs: nr

Culinary Wellness Director Angela Crooms led Henry Ford Hospital’s flagship Detroit campus through its transition from contract management to self-operated management in January of 2012, implementing the system’s own brand, Henry’s Culinary Wellness, in the process.

The largest of the health system’s campuses utilizes a hybrid room service and traditional tray assembly model to most effectively accommodate the diverse patient population of the huge acute-care facility through a restaurant-style room service menu and a house specialty menu developed by the culinary wellness team.  They also initiated an in-house volunteer-supported patient survey process that led to significant improvements in Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores while also helping address in-patient concerns and drive menu offerings.

On Oct. 6, 2012, Henry Ford Health System joined 151 other hospitals from 16 different systems to team up with the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to deliver healthier options for patients, guests and employees, and for the last three years health and wellness protocols were added or expanded in both the patient services and retail operations at Henry Ford.

In the cafeteria the addition of a toss-to-order entree salad station and an action station featuring entrees sautéed to order give guests additional options in an onsite retail dining environment that has seen all venues continue to experience year-over-year sales growth.

Among the accomplishments of the Henry Ford Hospital culinary wellness team over the past three years has been partnerships with restaurants and chefs to bring diverse cuisines to the hospital campus; on-campus food truck rallies to provide additional menu options and a chance to enjoy the outdoors; and relationships with local vendors to sell product such as organic produce and healthy food offerings on site.

Facility improvements over the period have included the management of two dish room renovations and the purchase of two dish machines, the opening of a well-received temporary restaurant to support the hospital staff through the implementation of a new electronic medical record system and a cafeteria dining room renovation.

Technology has been leveraged with a new online catering menu and ordering process; the creation of a SWAT team approach to immediately address patient concerns via text messaging (something that was highlighted as a best practice by the hospital’s service excellence department), a new menu marketing program, implementation of a new POS system and the addition of electronic menu monitors and a nutrition app to provide customers nutritional analysis and other health monitors.