Customer Spotlight: Jewish Hospital

Jewish Hospital, Louisville, KY

Perfect-Temp from Dinex Improves hot meal service with first-year savings of more than $215,000

Keeping hot food hot and cold food cold has always been the challenge in hospital foodservice. Added to that challenge in recent years has been the need to improve the bottom line through increased productivity and trayline efficiency. The Dinex® Perfect-Temp® system met that challenge recently at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, where the versatile conduction carts were chosen to modernize the foodservice operation. Jewish Hospital is a 445-bed, tertiary care facility built in 1905. It is a four time recipient of the prestigious Consumer Choice Award as Louisville's most-preferred hospital. As part of the 35-hospital Jewish Health Care System, it serves 17,000 meals per day on site and also transports meals to the 110 bed Frazier Rehabilitation facility.

Download PDF

Jim Batts, Foodservice Manager & Larry Riff, Foodservice Director

Janice Graves with the Perfect-Temp Cart by Dinex

The Challenge

Jewish Hospital was struggling with a labor-intensive, time consuming bulk oven re-thermalization system. Meal temperatures and quality were inconsistent, and patient satisfaction ratings were declining. Raising patient satisfaction by providing high-quality hot meals, while using fewer staff to prepare them, was the goal of Larry Riff, Foodservice Director and Jim Batts, Foodservice Manager. Larry and Jim made it their business to identify the most efficient, cost-effective equipment to meet the Hospital's needs for:

• Enhanced patient satisfaction
• Reduced operating costs
• Consistent hot and cold serving temperatures
• Patient and staff safety
• Compliance with Hazard Critical Control Points (HACCP)
• Minimal maintenance and maximum durability
• Minimal staff training

After evaluating available systems over a period of several months, the team selected the Perfect-Temp conduction tray system from Dinex International, Inc., headquartered in Glastonbury, Connecticut.

Impressive Results!

Perfect-Temp was installed, and the results were both positive and immediate. The facility was able to reallocate ten full-time employees. The quality of food served became consistently good, and patient surveys reflected far greater levels of satisfaction. Labor cost and improved productivity realized savings of over $215,000 per year, while maintenance costs dropped dramatically to $1,200 annually. Additional savings accrued from improved productivity and a low 2.9% food wastage.

Bottom line? Perfect-Temp from Dinex has proven to be a major cost-saving and technological upgrade, according to management and staff at Jewish Hospital. "I would recommend the system to any large hospital, and I invite them to see it in operation at the Jewish Hospital," stated Jim.

System Benefits

• HACCP compliance
• Labor-saving efficiency with pre-programmed retherm of trays
• Hot and cold temperatures preserved directly on the tray
• Patient satisfaction with consistent food quality and flavor
• Minimal training requirements
• Ease of use and cleaning
• Space-saving equipment design
• Staff and patient safety