Hornepayne hospital scales back community food services

The Hornepayne Community Hospital is scaling back some of its food services, the facility's CEO said, to better focus on health care.

Until recently, the hospital provided food services to members of the community, not just patients. People could come in and have breakfast at the cafeteria, or pick up bulk food items like steak or shrimp, things that weren't available elsewhere in the community.

But that's all changing, said hospital CEO Heather Jaremy-Berube.

"We were spreading ourselves a little too thin," she said. "It's much easier, now, to purchase things online. There's more availability of specialty products, perhaps, that the hospital was offering."

Business opportunity

"We need to focus on our residents, and focus on the services that we provide to them."

Alison Morrison, the hospital's chief nursing officer, said the changes will provide opportunities for Hornepayne's business community.

She said it was a challenge when a large group of people went to the cafeteria to have breakfast.

"Our staffing remains the same, so it can become a bit disruptive to the normal processes and flow of getting nutritious meals at the correct temperature, and all the standards that they have to meet, in a timely and an efficient manner," Morrison said. "Our hope is that if there is a gap at breakfast time, that it'll be an opportunity for one of the businesses in the community to pick that up."

Catering still available

Jaremy-Berubesaid the changes are coming as a result of program reviews at the hospital, including one that highlighted how the hospital handled dietary services.

"We have to provide various choices to the residence, as well as table side dining and some enhanced features," she said. "In order to do so, we've decided to streamline our operations."

Catering will still be available from the hospital's cafeteria, with adequatenotice.

"That way, we'd be able to plan for the inventoryrequired to prepare such items," Morrison said. "We'd be able to plan for staffing accordingly, and it wouldn't be disruptive to normal operations."

"We're not alone in trying to seize business opportunity, and means of generating some income," she said. "We do have a responsibilityto find ways to generate income at the hospital."