Issue Date: December 24, 2006

Hospitals roll out room-service menus

By Laura Daily

The days of hospital food as a punch line may be numbered. More than 300 health care facilities from Nebraska Medical Center to small systems like three-hospital Exempla Healthcare in Colorado now let patients order the food they want, when they want it.

Carol Edgar perused a six-page Cuisine on Call menu while recovering at Montana's Kalispell Regional Medical Center. Among her options: a 4-ounce sirloin, French toast and herb-crusted chicken breast. She phoned in her order, and her made-to-order meal was delivered within 45 minutes. "It was the easiest part of my hospital stay," Edgar says.

Some hospitals using such programs report patient satisfaction scores in the 90s out of 100. It's a matter of control, says Kalispell vice president Jim Oliverson, noting that hospital patients are told where to go, what to do and when to do it. "Selecting and ordering their own food returns some control and makes patients feel a bit better," he says.

Hospital execs also like the economics. With fewer unwanted meals being thrown away, Steve Tinney of Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, N.J., has saved close to $100,000 in food costs during the first year of implementing At Your Request-Room Service Dining.

Pleasing patients is a high priority. Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Colo., says room service makes it easier to cater to vegetarians and vegans. At Children's Medical Center Dallas, the menu reflects weekly preference polls of young patients. Recent additions: tacos and curly fries. New for next year: tofu.