Keeping Nursing Home Food Warm and Maintaining Food Safety

Tip: Consider Travel Distance and Time the Process

The first thing to consider is how far the food is traveling. The clock starts ticking the moment the first meal is plated and doesn’t stop until the last plate is delivered. Most people underestimate how long it takes for food to reach residents, failing to take into account that the caregiver delivering food may stop to talk with a co-worker or provide assistance to a resident.

To get a sense of your current delivery times, start timing when the first meal is plated and then put that same timer on the last tray that will be delivered. Let your staff know that over the course of a week, you will be timing the tray delivery process to help ensure your residents are getting hot food. Be sure to reassure them that the point of this exercise is to assess the process so you can properly gauge which system is needed for your unique situation.

If longer than 30 minutes is required, many communities use a traditional wax pellet system, which has holding times anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the product brand. These systems use a plate heater, a pellet heater, a base lifter, an underliner, and an insulated dome. there are also chilled pellets that can be used to keep cold food cold.

• For those needing a longer hold time, there is an option that offers a holding time of up to 90 minutes; this unit has a charging cycle of 10-15 seconds depending on the base used

So, you have your hot food covered. Now how do you get it to the resident?

Selecting and Utilizing Meal Carts for Safe and Efficient Tray Delivery Service

Tip: Take into account your unique needs and select the meal cart that matches them

Incorporating Disposable and Reusable Takeout Containers

Tip: Save time and help reduce the risk of cross-contamination with the use of disposable containers

Disposable Containers

Single-use foodservice packaging provides a sanitary way to serve fresh food. It can also play a key part in promoting safety, reducing foodborne illness, and saving staff valuable time during the cleanup process. For those looking for sustainable options, there are containers made of sugarcane & bamboo available.

Reusable Containers

For an environmentally friendly option, G.E.T. Eco-Takeout solutions offer reusability and quality in a reliable to-go container.

Trending in Senior Living Dining: Embracing Technology for Dining Services

Amidst staffing shortages, turnover, and call-outs, communities are embracing innovative technology solutions to revolutionize Senior Living dining. With a focus on more personalized and engaging experiences, the role of technology continues to grow. Incorporating technology into daily workflows can offer win-win-win solutions for resident and staff engagement, operational efficiency, and cost savings.

Enhancing Resident Engagement with Technology in Senior Dining

Resident engagement is key in senior dining. Traditional Senior Living dining services might fall short in providing the interactive and engaging experience residents expect when a limited number of servers are running between the kitchen and dining room.

Servi Plus addresses this by automating repetitive tasks – like food serving, bussing, and tray passing – freeing up staff to interact more meaningfully with residents. The robot’s eye-catching LED display can deliver personalized messages, adding a touch of novelty to mealtimes and making dining more enjoyable for residents.

Leveraging Technology to Boost Operational Efficiency in Senior Living Food Service

Operational efficiency is critical in managing Senior Living dining services. With staffing being a significant challenge, Servi Plus fills the gap by taking over routine tasks and reducing the need for additional staff. This ensures consistent and reliable service and translates to an estimated $40,000 in labor cost savings*.

*Labor cost savings vary depending on your staffing needs, labor rates, and length of lease. Assumes existing wi-fi connection.  Shipping and deployment costs not included in calculation. Contact us to calculate potential savings for your unique community.

Key Benefits of Adopting Foodservice Robotics

The use of foodservice robots in Senior Living dining brings several advantages:

• Places people where they give the most value, with patients or residents
• Provides a reliable, consistent dining experience 
• Reduces or eliminates human time spent lifting and carrying, running back and forth with food, supplies, or dishes.
• Reduces the need to train new staff members
• Reduces cost of overtime pay when short-staffed
• Leads to hiring and labor cost savings

Benefits for Residents:

• Fresher food: the kitchen sends food as soon as it is ready, not after it’s been waiting under a heat lamp
• Receive better service: wait staff stays in the dining area, ready to help residents

Will Robots Replace Humans in Senior Living Foodservice?

Integrating robots in Senior Living isn’t about replacing human jobs. Instead, they are designed to enhance service delivery and address challenges with labor shortages, missed shifts, and frequent turnover. Robots work alongside the server team to deliver a reliable, consistent dining experience.

How Can Senior Care Robots Improve Resident Engagement?

Foodservice robots, like Servi Plus, have transformed routine activities into sources of joy and resident engagement. From naming contests to delivering custom messages, like “Happy Birthday,” these robots create memorable moments for residents. Such engagement initiatives personalize this technology and foster a stronger community spirit, elevating the dining experience. By taking over routine tasks, robots enable staff to dedicate more time to meaningful interactions with residents.

Hiring a Foodservice Robot: Servi to Improve Senior Living Dining 

Direct Supply’s Innovation and Technology Center (ITC) is focused on finding innovative Senior Care solutions that will help our customers. Our team selected Servi Plus from Bear Robotics not only for the strength of its technology with many benefits but also for its ease of implementation and level of service and support.  Bear Robotics provides free onsite startup support, plus ongoing technical support 24/7 to keep robots running. Direct Supply® is committed to applying technology to solve Senior Living’s biggest challenges and providing outrageous customer service to our customers.

*Labor cost savings vary depending on your staffing needs, labor rates, and length of lease. Assumes existing wi-fi connection.  Shipping and deployment costs not included in calculation. Contact us to calculate potential savings for your unique community.

Four Steps You Can Take to Enhance Your Residents’ Dining Experiences

We all know mealtimes in Senior Living communities are an opportunity to boost resident satisfaction and quality of life, but, for memory care residents, there are often additional concerns to address. It’s important for residents to stay focused and free from agitation long enough for residents to receive adequate nutrition while ensuring a positive dining experience.

We’ve identified four broad categories and some commonsense solutions to help improve the overall dining experience for residents with dementia.

1. Atmosphere: Soothe Anxiety

Create a dementia-friendly environment by using memory aids to remind residents about mealtimes. Try a clock with large numbers, an easy-to-read appointment calendar with large letters and numbers, or even a daily schedule or menu board.

Once inside the dining room, be consistent with furniture placement so memory care residents know what to expect. Then, throw on some classical or soothing music for a calming effect. It is equally important for memory care residents to avoid overstimulation caused by television, excessive noise or too many people.

A separate service time for memory care residents gives them a calmer, dementia-friendly dining room. When blended dining rooms are in operation, seat memory care residents facing away from other diners to help prevent distractions.

Browse thousands of our Senior Living foodservice products designed for seniors’ unique needs by visiting us online – we’re sure to have exactly what you’re looking for. For additional solutions for memory care residents, contact us today.

Sources:

1. https://www.sath.nhs.uk/news/blue-crockery-introduced-for-patients-living-with-dementia/#

2. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3676207/Yellow-plates-help-dementia-patients-eat.html 

3. https://www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/spring10/golomb/ 

Know your hood types: type 1 hood vs type 2

There are a few key differences between commercial kitchen hood type 1 vs type 2:

• Type I hoods are required for equipment that produce smoke or grease-laden fumes. This includes equipment such as fryers, ranges, griddles, convection ovens, tilt skillets and broilers. 
• Type II hoods are used where grease isn’t present to remove steam, vapor and odors. These types of hoods are generally used for dishwashers, steam tables and steamers.

Maximize budget dollars through space efficiency: Type 1 hood cost vs Type 2

Type 1 (exhaust hood) cost:

A hood in a commercial kitchen is high-end real estate. Currently, we are seeing prices at around $16,000 for 2 – 10′ type 1 hoods.  Meaning, it can cost anywhere from $900 to $1,700 per linear foot, depending on what state you live in. Because of the high cost, it’s important to use that space as efficiently as possible. 

Type 2 (condensate hood) cost

Since you can use Type 2 kitchen hoods without ductwork you can oftentimes find these hoods at a generally cheaper price. In 2023, we’re seeing prices land around $1,800.

Not all electrical equipment needs to be under a hood

In the past, the general rule for commercial kitchens was that if a product created heat or steam, it needed to go under a hood.  While that still holds true for all gas equipment, there are a few exceptions for electrical equipment. Some examples of electric equipment and commercial ovens that may not need to go under a hood include:

Find new, innovative equipment solutions that don’t require a hood!

Combi Electric Heated Boilerless oven – electric tabletop models offer ventless versatility. Operators can choose between manual and automated cooking platforms for ease of use.

Commercial Oven Ventilation Accessories

If you find yourself struggling to fit everything under the primary hood in your kitchen, then you might want to shop for ovens that have a hood as an accessory for you to cook in a converted space. There are two that we’d suggest:

Setting the Stage for Hospital Food Service Quality Improvement

Tip: Consider Travel Distance: Time the Hospital Food Service Process

The first thing to consider is how long it takes to deliver the meals. The clock starts ticking the moment the first meal is plated and doesn’t stop until the last plate is delivered. To get a sense of your current delivery times, have your staff spend a week timing when the first meal is plated and then put that same timer on the last tray that will be delivered.

 Be sure to reassure them that the point of this week-long exercise is to assess the hospital food service process so you can properly gauge which system is needed. Once you determine how long it takes your team to deliver the meals, you can decide which meal delivery system best meets your needs. Systems are rated for 30, 60, or 90 minute hold times. Shop Foodservice Solutions to help prioritize quality patient care in the hospital food delivery process.

If meal delivery takes longer than 30 minutes, there are several options to consider. One option is the traditional pellet method.  Depending on the brand of pellets, you can get anywhere from 60-90 minutes of hold time. There is also the option of induction systems. These induction systems come in several different varieties…

• The 90 minute option can heat food in 10-15 seconds depending on the base being used 

  • This option also charges up to 240 bases per hour

For any of these different systems, it is important to note that the induction bases are not interchangeable across brands. You must use the specific base for the style of warmer you are using.

So, you have your hot food covered. Now how do you get it to the patient?

Selecting and Utilizing Hospital Trays and Meal Carts

Tip: Take into account your unique needs and select the hospital food cart that matches them

In addition to food carts and trays, you may want to consider other products that will enhance your hospital foodservice. Patients and staff need to stay hydrated – consider a quality Commercial Ice Machine or ice and water dispensers to serve patients and staff alike. Easy Installation and Delivery Services are also available for stress-free appliance purchases.

Incorporating Containers and Smallwares for Improving Hospital Foodservice

Tip: Save time and help reduce the risk of cross-contamination with the use of disposable containers, hospital drinking cups, and hospital utensils

1. Hospital Ice Machine Sanitation & Maintenance

Regular hospital ice machine maintenance and cleaning will prolong equipment life and increase your ROI. Look for the following features for hospital ice machine cost effectiveness:

Auto-Purge: This feature controls the amount of scale buildup between cleanings by purging mineral laden water out of the machine.

Ultra Violet Lights:  This feature creates “active air” which  passes over exposed food zone components and inhibits the growth of viruses, bacteria, yeast and other common microorganisms. Only a simple UV bulb change is recommended once a year to maintain effectiveness.   

Ozone: This feature prevents the growth of bacteria, yeast and mold in your hospital ice maker by keeping the machine’s interior, storage bin, dispenser, and drains clean.

2. Types of Hospital Ice: Cubelets, Flakes, and Nuggets

Cube ice is hard and clear. Depending on the size you select, cubes can be difficult to chew and can pose a choking hazard. Cube ice melts the slowest.

Flake ice consists of small, soft pieces. It melts fairly quickly but is perfect for displaying products and hand scooping into drinks.

Nugget ice (or sonic ice) is smaller and softer than cube ice. It is still an effective coolant and is hard enough to be dispensed without hand scooping, but soft and small enough to chew. 

Hospital Ice Maker Tip: Nugget ice is great for patients who like to chew ice as it’s less of a choking hazard. It can also be used in cold therapy, in beverages and to make blended drinks. When selecting a machine for your hospital, keep in mind nugget ice may be referred to differently across brands: Scotsman and Manitowoc call it chewable nuggets and Hoshizaki calls it flaked ice or cubelets.

Whether you’re searching for a water and ice maker dispenser for your break room, patient floors, or self-service kitchen, consider production capacity, touch free dispensing and size when reviewing these chewable ice type machine options:

• Hoshizaki Ice and Water Dispensers for Cubelet Ice
• Manitowoc Ice & Water Machines for Nugget Ice
• Scotsman Meridian Ice and Water Dispensers for Nugget Ice

3. Types of Commercial Hospital Ice Machines: Floor-Standing, Undercounter, or Countertop

Floor-standing commercial ice machines (also called modular ice machines) can usually generate enough ice to be the primary source of ice for most facilities. Ice production can be limited by available ice storage space, so a floor-standing machine should be coupled with a properly sized bin or dispenser. Hotel-style bins offer touch-free dispensing and may have a built-in cuber head.

Countertop commercial ice machines are appropriate for low-volume ice requirements and can be used in nurses’ stations, patient self-service locations and therapy rooms. Touch-free options are available to reduce the risk of cross-contamination but require a specific hand placement on the drinking glass to activate the flow of ice.

4. Maximum Production: Amount of Hospital Ice Needed

The listed maximum ice production is the most amount of ice a commercial ice machine is able to produce in 24 hours (based on 70°F air and 50°F incoming water temperature). Estimated maximum production capability of a commercial ice machine can be lowered by factors including:

• A warm or overcrowded location
• Warm incoming water
• Small storage bin

Typically, you can estimate actual ice production at 85% of the unit’s listed maximum ice production. Hospital cafeterias use about 1lb of ice per person per day and an average of 10 lbs of ice for every patient bed.

6. Ice Maker Cooling System Options: Air-Cooled or Water-Cooled

Air-cooled commercial ice machines typically require 8″ of clearance on the sides and top to operate properly, so they are not a good choice in smaller spaces or in hot kitchens. In temperatures over 90°F, air-cooled machines will not reach full production capacity. Air-cooled units can cost less to operate over the life of the machine, saving money in the long run. Some air-cooled units are ENERGY STAR® qualified.

Water-cooled commercial ice machines use a once-through water system where the water used to cool the machine is subsequently dumped down a drain. This wastes a significant amount of water and may result in a higher water bill. However, water-cooled machines work well in tight spaces without ventilation, such as a closet or in a hot kitchen with temperatures over 90°F.

Regulatory Tip: If you are considering a water-cooled machine, be sure to check your local regulatory codes. Some states prohibit the use of water-cooled machines.

7. Water Treatment Systems for Hospital Ice Makers: Filter or Scale Elimination

70% of commercial hospital ice machine maintenance issues are related to water. The proper use of water filters and scale reduction systems can help eliminate hospital ice machine maintenance problems. 

Scale elimination systems reduce scale throughout your kitchen, resulting in fewer service calls, lower maintenance costs, improved energy utilization and longer hospital ice machine life.

8. Hospital Ice Machine Certifications

Certifications can help you determine the best commercial hospital ice machine that meets your needs for safety, performance, maintenance and efficiency.

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) tests products and certifies that they meet established safety standards.

The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) is an independent nonprofit organization that certifies products meet standard for design, performance and cleanability.

ENERGY STAR® products are independently certified to save energy, save money and protect the environment. Depending on the type of machine, ENERGY STAR ice machines are 10% to 16% percent more energy efficient and 20% more water efficient

Commercial Hospital Ice Machine FAQ:

1 Commercial Ice Machines, Energy Star (2023) 

Limited Grasp

Hand function is essential to a resident’s independence. Help seniors with limited grasp by offering utensil holders and modified utensils with larger handles. These will give your residents greater control for easier dining.

Hemiplegia & Paralysis

Residents with use of only one hand can find eating on their own to be a frustrating endeavor. But with rocker knives and angled utensils, these residents will be able to use their stronger arms to eat without assistance.

Eating aids that provide a “backstop” for food can help residents get food onto utensils, rather than pushing it off the plate. Consider scoop dishes, food guards and compartment plates to address this challenge. These products are very useful for residents with reduced coordination as well.

Discover all of the dining products it takes to create a successful experience.