Newswise — Fajitas, grilled chicken Caesar salad, ziti with marinara sauce and apple crisp are what patients at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park are calling hospital food thanks to the new “At Your Request” meal service program at the Melrose Park hospital.
An upscale menu with contemporary offerings is included in each patient room, offering a choice of more than 200 items akin to luxury hotel room service. Patients peruse the menu, decide upon their choice of entrée, beverage, side dishes and even dessert and order it themselves with their in-room phone. Within 45 minutes, a freshly prepared meal that is tailor-made to individual specifications is delivered and served to the patient.
“Nutritious and appetizing meal selections that patients will actually eat and enjoy are vital to the healing process,” said Trisha Cassidy, president, Gottlieb. “Dining is just one of the many areas we are giving freedom to patients to put them in control and help make their stay healthier and happier.”
Staff members in the Gottlieb Dietary department take the patients' orders and use a computer to enter the patients’ name, room number and dietary requirements or restrictions. The “At Your Request” dining program is just one component of Loyola Gottlieb's commitment to patient-centered care. Other recent efforts to improve the patient experience include:
• private patient rooms with communication white boards, hand-washing stations and convertible furniture for overnight family members.
• “at your request” services that put housekeeping choices in the hands of the patient.
• New communication protocols help to: increase bedside communication with patients and their family members, especially when a shift changes and new members of the care team are introduced; assist patients in remembering the names of their care team and the tests and procedures that are scheduled with the use of bilingual communication white boards in each room; and to monitor a patient's recovery after discharge with a phone call to the patient's home within 48 hours after a patient leaves the hospital.
• A new patient gown designed specifically by Gottlieb nursing staff to offer more fabric for complete body coverage, color-coordinated ties and snaps for easier coordination and manipulation and reversibility option.
• floor “quieter hours” to promote rest and relaxation, shown to improve patient healing, as well as music therapy sessions and social visits by hospital volunteers.
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