Page 20, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, October 12,1994 Food servi.ces now high-tech Sandra Flach bas certainly taken-a circuitous toute te get te ber present position as manager- of 'dietary services at» Whitby General Heslpital. She bas.done stints in KiGtchener, Parry Sound, Orangeville, *Newfoundland and Moose Factory, Ont. *Today, with 12 years managing experience under ber beTt, she runs the high-tech cafeteria at WGH. She is -an emfployee of Versa Foods, wbich runs' the $940,000 yearl fond services contract for th ebospitaTi. For the past three years, she has been familiar with Versa's unique materials information system, wich allows ber te* know what is happening with the budget at any time. "Ites 10 stops ahead of any in-house system," she says. When she arrived almost four months ago from St. Anthony, Nfld., "I already knew the entire system," she says. Speaking in a vory pleasant voice, she explains the cafeteria's goal. "What can wo. bring bere te help serve you better?" she says. The answer is "te produce bigb quality food and service to our custoers and patients." Toamwork is the main tool for consistently completing this goal. There are regular Tuesday' merning meetings in which a patient's specific dietary needs are discussod. Working witb physicians and dieticians, Flach and ber cafeteria staff discuss how best te enable the patient te heal quicker.. The' meetings enable the docters and dietary workers te "make sure that our patients are getting quality meals," she says. Tbey usually. choose from one of four types of- menus, depending on the patient's needs: Regular, diabotic, low sait and low fat. Unlike in the past, when doctan'. iorescribed and workers E~CanadlaTrust Whitby General1 Hospital Congratulatins on your 25th Anniversary, and f or the excellent service and support giýven to this community over those years. Michael F. Hergott 408 Dundas W. at Euclid Branch Manager Whitby, Ontario (905) 666-1667 on 25 Years or Servitce Food Service Solutions, for the Future ... Today! DIETARY SERVICES MANAGER Sandra Flach right) chats with a worker in, the hospital cafeteria. FIac*h, an employee of Versa Foods, took over management offood* services at Whitby General about four months ago.- listened, the interaction seems te make for a beaithier patient. It puts ail the piecos together," Flacb says. The team attitude is important for ber nine ful-time and 17 part-time employees. "Ne one functions alone," she says. Costs have dropped since Flach arrived in late May., With two new supervisors, Nancy Readinan and Ann Enzi -- wheo work on menu preparation and diet assessment respectively -- it bas Changes include role PROM PAGE 17 She challenges Whitby residents tra become inoreactive within* che hospital. Some of the ways she mentions include joining some of the organizations that help support WGH. She urges interested parties to join the auxilia-.ry, the hospital board or to simply help out by becoming a corporate contributor. "The community is the hospital's reason for being,' so, she says, Whitby should get invdlved in its support. Neither entity can stand alone; they must corne together rather than romain apart. Residents should also make more use of the institution or face dire consequences. She wamns, "If they don't use it, they'll lose it." However, she stresses that the acute care study does not state that Whitby will see its hospital shut down. In fact, Durham is only one of 22 province-wide communities on which the study focuses. Unlike some other communities, Whiùtby is not in danger of having its hospital closed but rather transformed within a-region-wide scope. Says Woodbury - with an Hospital 0n125 years of service +1-i Ajax and Pickering General Hospital opti mistic note -- the study promotes hew communities can make the "best use of existing facilities. "Once a clear direction is set', we can be very positive," she says. The averagepri ce fior a pati et' daily meal bas dropped frm$6.80 tô $5.40 in four months. Mlach explans that Versa is budgeted te, spend $5 pr day n each patient's daily food requirement. The cafeteria also hag a full-papered '(accredited) chef wbom Flaçh describes as "excellent." An innovative part of the cafeteria 15 the Food Club, in which, hospital employees can make bulk purchases of such items as frozen hamburgers or special cakes. There is a $5 -fee te join the club, and after that employees can order products which are cheaper than buying at bulk food places such as Costco. Workers usually wait about two days and the product is there. "Tou pick it up wben you're going home," she says. Flach says that the club prevides a service te busy bhsptal employees who otherwise might n et make it into a grocery store. It is a great stress reliever, she niaintains. "If we can take any of that away, that's where were belping." Flacb studied at Centralia College in Huron Park, just outside ef London, Ont. Centralia is a private college run by the agriculture mxnstry. For Flach, the cafeteria is net only a place te eat, it is a meeting place for patients who niight net otherwise see anybody else but their nurses and roommates. Ontarlo Place architect, designed -Whitby Gne'ral, As the director of support services for the Whitby hospital, Bob Florence certainly bas his hands full. His department includes such diverse compononts as purcbasing, receiving, security, maintenance, heating and ventilation, sterilizing, bousekeoping and dietary. Workçing under him are twe department beads, wbile he remains as departmnent head for housekeeping, maintenance and security. He bas a budget of about $2.6 million te work witb eacb year. lie bas a staff of 62. Florence helps mun the hospital wbicb 15 94,000 square feet spread among four floors. The top two floors are for patients, wbile the main floor bouses administration and the cafeteria. The ground floor contains tbe laboratory, x-ray dopartmnent and omergoncy ward. The building is beating by twe gas boilers with a fuel oil backup if thero is any problem with the gas supply. Hie says tbe building was designed 25 years ago' in an innovative manner by the same arcbitect who designed Ontario Place. "It doesn't look like a hospital," be says of the structure. Florence describes it as more open and brighter than other baspitals ho has seen. In the buildings quarter century, net rnuch bas changed. The boiler plant is now (it was completed 15'years ago) and the second floor was ronovated te, serve cbronic care patients. The hospital could easily handle an expansion -as it bas a -, 'spare elovator sbaft andânftoher six floors can be added.- The surrounding area bas lots of land and Florence sees much potontial, if the powers-tbat-be decide on growtb. Hie basbeen at the hospital in bis present capacity for four years. Before that, bis career consisted of stints in engineering at various factories in private industry. He studied at Waterloo University, gaining bis degree in mechanical engineering in 1971. Workiing at a public. institution has*been interesting for Florence. However, the bureaucracy of tbe bealtb ministry bas been challenging. "Lt can test your mettle ," hosays. "You're continally struggling te make changes bappen -- you have te pusb, pusb, pusb," ho says of the approval procoss wbich takes an inordinate amount of time. As an example, ho explains that a fire alarm update takes as many- as six stages before it is approved. It does take time," ho says sarcastically. . is job bas bocome more and more political over the years. "You leara bow te get around the roadblocks," ho says of the manoeuvring ho bas nxanaged te leamn. Witb thé acute care study calling for a radical change in this bospital's focus, Florence does net see mucb of a change in bis department. "As long as there is a building here, witb people in it, support service wilI be bore. "We can be a rehab facility and wo can be an acute care f.;iility," ho . sy -, "We can handle anytbing," he says witb n feisty spirit evi dent in bis toe.