Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
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• Payroll deduction is when an employee uses his or her identification badge that contains
an encoded number. The employee purchases a meal, swipes the card through a reader, and the
dollar value is charged and recorded in a database. The amount of all the charges is deducted
from the employee’s net paycheck.
Over-the-Counter Service
Because of the speed of over-the-counter service, this type of operation is popular with several
of the customer groups served by health care food service operations. After placing their orders
with service personnel, customers expect quick service. Therefore, careful menu planning is
essential to meeting this demand, and only foods that can be prepared or consumed quickly
should be offered. Offering special meals of the day at discounted prices also may speed service.
Once customers receive their orders, several dining options may be available. Most overthe-counter
operations have on-site seating and disposable service ware for on-site dining or
carryout service. Counters may be designed to offer take-out services for bakery items and special
holiday foods. Other over-the-counter options may include delivery of orders to customers.
Kiosks or mobile carts, which can be wheeled to other high-customer-traffic areas such as lobbies
or patios, also have proved successful. Kiosks provide specialty service such as coffee,
desserts, and other items. A kiosk may be used as a carving station or a beverage station for
buffet service. Convenience stores combine the elements of a grocery store with convenience
food. Home-replacement meals are meals a customer can purchase and take home to eat.
Home-replacement meals may include a full meal or specialty items such as baked goods. Food
courts are popular in large facilities and may be operated by the food service operation or a
franchised company. They may offer such items as pizza, fast food, ice cream, and a bakery. A
food court is a cluster of quick-service outlets that allow customers to go to the service area
they choose. A common dining area is provided for all food court customers. Because many of
the customer groups served by the food service department rely on quick meal service, these
types of operations are popular.
Catering Services
In today’s competitive environment, more and more health care facilities are seeking ways to
expand their service lines and generate additional revenue. Catering is one way to accomplish this
goal. Catering may take place on or off the premises (as discussed in Chapter 15). The event may
be as simple as a coffee and tea setup for a meeting or as elaborate as a reception or banquet.
Before a full-scale catering program can be implemented, its feasibility should be studied.
A number of questions need to be answered and logistics planned:
• What type of catering will be done?
• What kinds of menus will be offered?
• Will table decorations be needed?
• Can the existing staff handle the added workload?
• Does current staff have the necessary skills?
• What will additional equipment, supplies, and labor cost?
• Does the facility have space for this additional activity?
• How will start-up costs be covered?
• How will costs of the program be calculated?
• Will the food service department receive the revenue generated from the program?
• Can the revenue generated significantly enhance existing programs?
The food production system generally can accommodate the demands of catering with
minor adjustments in its preparation equipment in terms of both type and capacity or volume.
With careful attention to scheduling of food production employees, the effect on production
labor requirements (for example, in regard to both regular work hours and overtime) can be