An opinion editorial submitted by Northern Health regarding food quality:
Kitimat General Hospital (KGH) is proud to have a dedicated team of food service supervisors, cooks and workers who prepare high quality and nourishing meals. This team strives for patient and resident satisfaction and takes pride in providing residents and patients with appetizing and delicious food. The local qualified cooks prepare a combination of items from scratch and items purchased readymade right on site. This allows us to increase the variety of menu items offered at each meal.
The core menu is carefully developed by a team of food service managers, supervisors, cooks, workers and dietitians who represent all of Northern Health (NH) including KGH. The menu is developed with resident and patient safety as the number one priority, and each item is selected because it meets the provincial and federal legislative requirements for nutrition content. The menu complies with Canada’s Food Guide and sodium reduction legislation and includes variations for people who require therapeutic diets.
Feedback on meals is encouraged and received through a variety of venues across NH and the team meets regularly to discuss and act on the feedback received. All food services staff are trained in FoodSafe and the food safety plan is approved by the public health protection department, who also conducts regular inspections for safe food handling.
The food services team is an integral part of patient safety, and the provision of appealing, nutritious and delicious food. Through their dedicated work, we ensure that we are consistent with industry best practices and strive to continually improve the food services at NH facilities. Their efforts are making a significant contribution to northerners to provide high quality health care.
Linda McMynn
Manager of Support Services
Northern Health