Innovations in healthcare food services.

n the late 1980s, following discussions with clients, legislative bodies and healthcare experts across Canada, Versa Services identified the primary challenges healthcare managers were facing in the delivery of dietary services. • Equipment in many hospital kitchens is outdated and food cannot be stored, prepared, or served in an efficient and sanitary manner. This leads to compromised storage space and temperatures, sub-standard production yields, inefficient staff, and inflexible meal service formats • High maintenance and repair costs result from the use of older equipment. Many hospital kitchens require renovation and equipment replacement to ensure that equipment malfunction does not impede meal service • Inappropriate food-serving temperatures due to centralized hot-plating techniques are omnipresent in many institutional dietary services. Moreover, the tray systems often cannot maintain adequate food temperatures from the central plating location to the point of service. • Inconsistent skill levels of staff has always been an issue. For example, the Shepherd's Pie made by Chef A on Monday may not taste the same as the Innovations in Healthcare Food Services Ideas At Work