Hospital Power Players: University Hospitals Case Medical Center

29. University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland

Licensed Beds: 1,032*
Management: Sodexo
Avg. Daily In-patient Census: 650
Avg. No. In-patient Meals/Day: 1,400
No. of Retail Dining Outlets: 3
Total Annual Retail Sales: $7 million
Dining/Nutrition Services FTEs: 210

The UH Case Nutrition Services Department provides patient foodservice via three patient kitchens all linked to a centralized diet office that uses Sodexo’s At Your Request Room Service platform. Patients place orders over the phone or, for patients needing assistance, are greeted by a diet office clerk who takes their order via tablet. Specific patient menus are available for pediatric and cancer patients in addition to kosher and gluten-free menus, for which a certified gluten-free kitchen is used for food preparation.

Three retail venues are available for employees and visitors across the campus. The Atrium cafeteria is a food court-style cafeteria featuring six food stations that provide a large variety of options. A branded Einstein Bros Bagels unit serves customers 20 hours a day, while a Wolfgang Puck Express in the Seidman Cancer Center menus Puck’s most popular dishes in a contemporary, fast-casual setting with affordable prices.

Patient and retail menus are changed frequently to maintain a strong focus on local purchasing, wellness and sustainability. Fryers and sugar-based beverages have long been eliminated, with the focus put on more healthy food preparation and wellness education. Sustainable practices are aligned with the Healthier Hospitals Initiative goals.  

In 2014, all ground beef, hamburgers and chicken breasts were replaced with non-therapeutic antibiotic-free versions to support UH Case’s Antibiotic Stewardship efforts, with additional items planned for 2015. Local and sustainable purchases now exceed 7 percent of total purchases, with a goal of 10 percent in 2015.  

Menus are engineered to decrease beef purchases by 10 percent and tap water is promoted over bottled water to take advantage of Cleveland’s access to Lake Erie, aligning with the City of Cleveland’s Year of Clean Water program, part of the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Initiative.

In addition, Sodexo and UH Case have partnered with Green City Growers, a local, cooperative greenhouse that grows hydroponic lettuce and herbs and employs residents from the Greater University Circle neighborhoods, who then become worker-owners.

*Includes University Hospitals Case Medical Center and UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital