At Holland Bloorview, food service – both retail and inpatient – is delivered by Sodexo, an international organization with over 6,500 employees at over 200 locations in Canada alone. They were recently in the spotlight for the preparation of food at the 2024 summer Paris Olympics. Sodexo has been Holland Bloorview’s onsite partner for food and environmental services (cleaning of facilities) for over 15 years.

As part of the effort to enhance food services, an online survey was conducted, receiving over 200 responses from clients, family and staff. The survey was delivered in multiple languages to maximize accessibility. In addition to online deployment, the survey was actively promoted to inpatient clients and families. 

The survey was developed in partnership with the volunteer Family Advisory Committee (FAC) who identified enhancement of food as a key priority in 2023-2024.

“To improve our food services, we sought the input of clients, families and staff to hear what we were doing well and what we could improve,” says Stewart Wong, vice president of communications, strategy and sustainability and executive lead for food service at Holland Bloorview. “We heard a lot about healthier choices, the need to accommodate specialized diets and the need for a greater variety of food overall.”

The survey feedback provided both an important baseline to measure from and the key “ingredients” to drive change.

Joy of cooking, more food choices

For the kitchen staff at the Garden Grill, Holland Bloorview’s onsite cafeteria, creating a healthy variety of food choices is an essential part of the service they provide. Sodexo cooks Pramod Maharjan and Angeles Flores, who prepare food with an energetic presence, supported the implementation of an expanded menu, a welcome change for new and regular customers of the cafeteria.

A chef at Holland Bloorview for over 12 years now, Maharjan understands the importance of enjoying a good meal in a comfortable environment.

“When we’re here at lunch cooking, we talk to a lot of different people who are asking about our daily specials,” says Maharjan. “For those staying at the hospital, this is often the only place they can eat, so we’re always keeping their happiness in mind, and ask about their preferences while offering more choices for food.”

Creating that meaningful food experience, in turn, contributes to a healthy team and a healthy kitchen. Flores, who has been cooking all her life, enjoys her role and the opportunities to build rapport with both her colleagues and the people she makes meals for. “I love being in this uniform and in this kitchen, and constantly finding ways to improve our food services,” says Flores.

“Pramod and Angeles, they’re always bringing smiles to people’s faces,” says Jackyline Nebit, therapeutic diet technician at Holland Bloorview. “Their lively interactions with customers show how lunchtime is more than just a meal – it’s an experience.”

Comments from the survey included appreciation of the Sodexo team, the cultural variety of the cuisine offered as well as feedback from elated parents revealing that their child is enjoying a new selection of meals.

The work with the FAC and the feedback from the survey were key enablers to the many additions and upgrades made to food services in the past year:

Inpatient

• A food services fact guide (PDF) has been distributed to all inpatient rooms, outlining the many food options in and around Holland Bloorview.
• Inpatient food service staffing has been bolstered with the hiring of a therapeutic diet technician who liaises with families on diet preferences, requirements, and supports new inpatient food preparation processes. 
• Kid-friendly activity placemats have been added to the inpatient meal experience.
• Facilitated by the spiritual care advisor, a pantry with non-perishable items for clients and families requiring kosher foods has been added to the inpatient unit. 
• To better accommodate families, caregivers, and visitors, purchased meal vouchers are now redeemable in the cafeteria and Tim Hortons. Previously, these could only be redeemed at the inpatient serveries during meal service. 
• The Activities of Daily Living (ADL) kitchen access hours have been updated, leading to a tripling of usage. The ADL kitchen, located on level 0, allows inpatient families to cook on their own in a comfortable space, creating healthy, familiar meals while removing the need to buy expensive takeout or delivery food.
• The implementation of new dietary software has created numerous operational benefits including: enhanced flexibility to serve clients with specialized diets, ability to update/revise menus quickly, improved consistency in food preparation and better food inventory management.
• Holland Bloorview is on a journey to implement international standards for food and liquid textures to support clients with swallowing difficulties. Changes are being made to food preparation processes and menu offerings, leading to safer and higher quality of care. 

Retail

• Retail food options were revamped with the launch of new menu items at the Garden Grill. This includes weekly pizza specials as well as a regular “Chef’s Special,” all prepared in-house. A new oven was procured to improve pizza offerings. 
• An increased variety of healthy snacks and drinks, including fresh fruit and smoothies, are now available in the cafeteria.
• A one-touch coffee station offering a selection of specialty drinks was added as part of the vending machine offerings (behind Tim Hortons). This supports staff and families who are at Holland Bloorview in the evening and weekend hours when the retail operation is closed. 
• A fresh salad bar was added with a rotating array of fresh greens and proteins.
• Successfully conducted a one-day trial run of opening the onsite Tim Hortons on a Saturday. A longer trial of Saturday openings will occur later this fall or early winter. 
• Daily availability of options for halal, vegetarian, and gluten-free diets. 

For longer-term initiatives, Holland Bloorview is investigating opportunities to address inpatient and outpatient food insecurity through community funding. Additionally, Holland Bloorview will be piloting reusable retail dishware to reduce landfill waste and support its growing sustainability agenda.

Holland Bloorview would like to thank the Family Advisory Committee and the Sodexo team for all the hard work they’ve done to improve our food services, as well as the clients, families, staff, students and volunteers who provided essential feedback to drive change over the past year.