Food Services Update
Good morning.
Last week’s VC Notes that recognized my 500th edition pushed the usual last-Friday-of-the-month 5 Questions-themed column to today. But I’m going to approach it a little differently and respond to a single topic that comes up routinely in questions sent to me through the VC Notes inbox – food services.
If you regularly read the Q&A version of VC Notes, you’ll know that I often respond to questions and comments sent to me about the cafeterias and food for patients/families. What I’ve presented in this column just scratches the surface of the number of submissions on this topic. That’s why I felt that recent developments were worth devoting today’s column to only this topic.
The big news here is that during the October IHL meeting, the Board of Trustees approved our agreement with the food and nutrition services vendor that was picked through a competitive RFP process. So, in a few months, there will be a new company taking over all cafeteria operations and patient food services at each of our campuses in Jackson, Grenada and Holmes County. Things are about to change.
We’ve executed a five-year, $75 million contract with Aramark. That’s a big sum, but managing food services for a multi-site academic medical center is a big task. A LOT of food is served daily to patients, families, visitors, employees, students and others. This is a huge responsibility, which is why we’ve been so meticulous with evaluating potential vendors and selecting the one that we believe will be able to meet – and surpass – our needs.
Let me rephrase that. We expect the company will meet our needs, so much so that we included language in this new contract that can impact how much the vendor is paid based on performance. If they don’t meet some of the metrics we’ve set as baselines, it could impact their payment. This type of performance-based agreement can be effective in ensuring a vendor does what it says and stays well above the baseline. We’ve set expectations for quality and timeliness of patient-delivered food and options for cafeteria-based food. Also, we set standards for kitchen and menu upgrades, employee behavior and customer service. In short, we want to make sure that all facets of food services at UMMC operate at the level we expect - and at that level you and our patients deserve. We are going to get this right.
Some of the areas we will be monitoring when the new vendor is fully onboarded are:
- Significant improvements to patient experience scores related to food
- Technology enhancements and innovations
- Improved menu options for younger patients
- Room service-style food services for Wiser and Children’s
- Much improved late-night and weekend food options
- Continuing education programs for Aramark employees
The retail locations Aramark will be taking over in February include the cafeterias in University Hospital, Wiser, the Union, UMMC Grenada and UMMC Holmes County and the coffee shop/deli in the School of Medicine. Other coffee shops on the Jackson campus are operated by different vendors – PJs in the Pavilion and Cups in the University Hospital and Sanderson lobbies. Information about each of our food locations can be found on the web here. This page may be updated with new information after Aramark has taken over operations, so you may want to check back in a few months.
On the flip side of our expectation that this new vendor will provide food services that our employees, students, patients and visitors deserve is an expectation that we stay committed to supporting them in all the ways we can. It’s in our – and your – interest that Aramark be successful and meet or exceed every possible metric.
I’m excited about this new relationship and I’m optimistic that you will quickly see a difference in all facets of food services at UMMC. The commitment from Aramark leadership helps drive my positivity as supported by this statement from the company’s top executive:
“It’s an honor to join forces with such a forward-thinking team, and I am confident that our combined strengths will create something remarkable.
Thank you for your trust and belief in our vision—we’re excited to work closely with you and bring our shared goals to life.
Our people are the heart of our success, and I have a firm belief that our culture of kindness, trust and empowerment will drive positive outcomes.”
Bart Kaericher, president & CEO, Aramark Healthcare+
Food and nutrition are vital components of successful patient outcomes, and they are essential to a highly functioning workforce and student population. We MUST get this right if we are going to be successful in our goal of reaching A Healthier Mississippi.