Memorial Medical Center patients are receiving fresher-tasting meals presented more attractively thanks to a $37,500 grant from the Statler Foundation.
The grant-funded food service and dietary upgrades include new kitchen equipment at the medical center. Among the items purchased were new serving trays and covered serving dishes, new mobile tray delivery carts and a heated dish dispenser. A new storage system for refrigerated food storage also was installed.
The kitchen prepares daily meals for medical center patients and for residents of Memorial's Schoellkopf Health Center.
"The new equipment has made a tremendous difference in the dining experience for our patients," said Maureen Lester, Memorial's acting director of nutrition services. "The meals we're delivering are now fresher and hotter, and we are able to present them in a way that is much more visually attractive."
"The food is nice and warm now - and more tender, not overdone," Schoellkopf Health Center resident Cheryl Dane said. The way meals are presented on the attractive new serving trays and covered dishes is, "nice; very nice," she added.
The Buffalo-based Statler Foundation supports education and research for the benefit of the hospitality industry in the U.S. Grants are awarded to colleges and other teaching institutions, including teaching hospitals for projects and programs to train and increase the proficiency of hotel management and culinary arts programs.
Jackie Clay, right, displays lunch served on a covered, heated plate atop a new tray in the Memorial Medical Center kitchen, as Ava Brown and Dietary Supervisor Carol Gariano, center, watch. Preparing meals in the background are Rick Dorato and Jack James.
Lisa Gratto pulls warmed plates off a new heated dish dispenser. The new kitchen equipment was funded by a grant from the Statler Foundation.
