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Show Room Service Now Available to All Patients at American Fork Hospital Patients at American Fork Hospital will no longer be surprised by what comes on their meal trays each day. That's because they can now order whatever they'd like during the day and evening from the hospital's new room service menu. Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., patients get to choose their meals from a menu of more than 100 made-to-order items for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After reviewing the restaurantlike restaurant-like menu, they dial the room service number and place their order with a room service operator. The food is then prepared fresh and delivered to patients within 45 minutes. "We're very excited to begin this service for our patients," said James Tanner, Food and Nutrition Services manager at American Fork Hospital. "Our team has been working for a long time now to prepare for this new program, which will really help us provide an added level of care for each patient here at the hospital." Tanner personally took about 30 phone orders on Wednesday when the program began. He enjoyed interacting with each patient who called, something he normally doesn't get the chance to do. Top menu items of the day were made-to-order omelets, roast turkey, grilled salmon, roast beef, quesadillas and fresh grapes for dessert. "If you counted the grapes as a dessert, they were the number one jtem ahead of cheesecake and lemon meringue pie," said Tanner, adding special menus have been developed for anyone who has dietary restrictions as well as for pediatric patients. American Fork Hospital is the first Intermountain Healthcare facility in Utah County to offer room service to all patients. Utah Valley Regional Medical Center began room service on its MotherBaby unit in March and patient survey results are already showing it was a good decision. In February of this year, 28 percent of moms on the unit rated the food service as excellent. That number is now at 70 percent. "If patients can eat what they want when they want it, they will eat more and that helps their whole health status as well as their mental and emotional well being," said Laura Watson, region director of Patient Support Services. |