Aramark Speaks to the UMMC Community

For the last-Friday-of-the-month VC Notes, I often have a 5 Questions column using your submissions to the VC Notes inbox. Recently, the topic that shows up most often and is a daily discussion point for many of you is food services.

So, instead of using your questions and comments here, we shared them with Scott Parker, vice president of operations for Aramark Healthcare+, and here is his response.

Dear University of Mississippi Medical Center family,

We at Aramark Healthcare+ are thankful that you chose us as your food services partner. We know how important this area is to your operations and success in each of your three mission areas. We have seen Dr. Woodward’s comments about how vital food services are to this community, and we hear her – and you – loud and clear.

We are deeply committed to enhancing the food service experience for all who walk through our doors – patients, visitors, students and staff. In the first four months of operations, our focus has been on redefining our food service culture, building a strong and reliable team, navigating necessary changes and learning the preferences and needs of our new customer base.

We are excited to share that Chef Johnathan Boyd has joined us as our new executive chef, bringing creativity, leadership and a passion for elevating the dining experience. His expertise will be essential as we move forward in improving our offerings and setting a new standard for service. Chef Johnathan is a Mississippi native and a competitive BBQ cook, and we look forward to him tailoring our programs to local preferences and upskilling our culinary team to execute these enhancements. 

In addition, we are actively recruiting our next on-site executive leader to help guide and shape the future of our dining program. Together, this leadership team will support our mission of delivering high-quality, nourishing and satisfying food options across the organization.Looking ahead, we remain focused on key areas of growth:

Expanding overnight and weekend food options
Increasing menu variety
Building local partnerships like we currently have with AHA Cajun Bistro
Most importantly, we are committed to listening to you. Your feedback is essential to our progress, and we invite you to share your thoughts and experiences through our Voice of the Customer platform at yourdiningvoice.com/healthcaredining.

Thank you for your continued support and patience as we grow and evolve. We look forward to serving you better every day.

Scott Parker
Aramark Vice President of Operations for Healthcare+

Thank you, Scott, for addressing our community and expressing your commitment to get this right. As you noted, I’ve said many times that we must meet or exceed expectations when it comes to food services. You, our patients and their families/friends deserve great tasting, well-prepared food with options. Food is more than just energy and nutrition for the body. It should satisfy expectations and please employees and those we serve. I look forward to Aramark continuing to build on its promises and take our patient and retail food to the next level. This is vital to help you to be at your best to push toward A Healthier Mississippi.