Gateway revamps patient room service
Hospital upgrades by studying concepts at Opryland Hotel
BY JIMMY SETTLE - Courtesy of THE LEAF-CHRONICLE

With a new hospital and custom kitchen to work from, Gateway Medical Center's Food and Nutrition Department is now embarking on a long-held dream: Patient-focused room service.

The staff of the Dunlop Lane hospital has taken information from patient surveys, combined with its own observations over the years, to create room service that's computer-customized to patient diet and nutrition requirements, plus convenience and a better menu.

The hospital has even taken a cue from a recognized Middle Tennessee leader in room service — the Opryland Hotel. Gateway workers have been trained by Gaylord room service employees.

Hopefully, you won't have to experience it unless, perhaps, you're bringing a newborn into the world. But if, at some point, you are admitted as a Gateway patient, officials think you'll like what you find in room service.

"We are very proud of what has been created with our room service program," said Connie Hassell, Gateway Director of Food and Nutrition. "It's a whole different room service concept, and it was developed by our food service staff members," said Hassell, who is overseeing the implementation of the program along with Food and Nutrition Supervisor Victoria Findley. In all, a staff of 50 people work in the department now.

"The hardest thing about switching from a traditional to a more-hotel-type room service is the kitchen has to be redesigned," Hassell said. "The move to this new hospital enabled us to make this transition."

Before, room service for patients meant a Food and Nutrition representative would go into the hospital rooms and take orders for meals face-to-face hours ahead of mealtime. "The problem with that," Hassell said, "is that maybe the patient's diet would change, or they might change their mind about what they want based on how they are feeling."

Now, room service orders are taken from patients just as if they were staying in a 4-star hotel, and meals are delivered to patients when they want them, not at universal, pre-designated times. If a late breakfast is what you want, for example, that's what you get.

There are, of course, special patient cases where the old style of ordering may be necessary, and so that hasn't been totally abandoned. The theme here is patient-centered convenience. "We're finding that some people are eating breakfast or dinner a little later sometimes with this room service, and some may only want two large meals a day at times," Hassell said.

Specific patient diet restrictions are entered into the computer network, so when an order is taken from a patient, it is automatically cross-referenced with any limitations they may have.

The menu itself defies some of the traditional notions about hospital food, Hassell said. "We want our patients to say we serve really good food, period, not just real good food for a hospital. "For patients with restrictions, we have, for example, some really good heart healthy desserts, but we also have real good chocolate cake," she said.