Hospital's New "Tray Chic"

FM Staff

TOSSING THE "TOSS AND GO" APPROACH. Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA, recently adopted a more structured approach to patient tray assembly and presentation. Rather than the traditional "toss and go" method that often produced loose, jumbled components, the new strategy designates specific tray assembly procedures. Neatness now counts.

Presentation is a key component-of customer satisfaction-in most foodservice environments. Even patient feeding, as the dining services staff recently discovered to its delight at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA.

The hospital had been using the traditional "toss and go" approach to tray assembly that produced loose silverware and unnecessarily oversized bowls on a blank white tray with no tray mat, says FSD Bruce Thomas.

But a session with a consultant produced a significant transformation. "The attention focused on the details of the trays," Thomas says. It now had a colorful mat, wrapped silverware, smaller dishes to better fit side dish portions and very specific placement of condiments and beverage containers.

Weekly meetings reinforce training and motivate the staff, while new posters detail tray placement procedures. Even the staff uniforms are in the process of upgrading to better convey a polished and professional look.

A benchmarking survey showed a jump of eight percent in foodservice ratings, an especially impressive showing considering that the changed weren't fully implemented until about halfway through the survey period.

"It's been a collective effort," Thomas says. "The staff has worked very hard to improve the presentation and patient satisfaction of the trays. This whole process has been a major image improvement, not many hospitals put this much emphasis on the details."