St. Francis Offers Dining ‘At Your Request’

Patients staying at St. Francis Hospital now have a choice when it comes to dining. They can look at a menu, pick up their phone and place an order with a food service operator. Within 45 minutes, a host or hostess will deliver their meal, which could be breakfast, lunch or dinner, regardless of the time of day.

Room service similar to that of a hotel is all part of St. Francis Hospital’s new At Your Request dining program. The main sign of the program’s success is that trays and plates are coming back clean to the kitchen.

“Typically, hospital patients don’t feel much like eating,” says Wes Higgons, St. Francis’ director of Food and Nutrition. “Especially if they get food they’re not interested in at times they’re not hungry. At Your Request dining gives them a choice of what they want to eat when they want it. Eating helps with patient nutrition.”

With the help of a computer, St. Francis is able to track what the hospital’s patients are eating and make sure they’re getting enough to eat, but not too much either. If a patient orders an item containing too many calories, too much sodium or too many carbohydrates, the operator will suggest an alternative. If a patient skips a meal, they’ll get a call from an operator asking if it was an oversight. If they miss more than one meal, a standard meal will be sent to their room.

Breakfast, lunch or dinner is available from 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. daily. A light meal or snack is offered until 8 p.m. Visitors may also order selections from the At Your Request menu. The cost is $5 for lunch or $7 for dinner.