Elmhurst Memorial Hospital

Elmhurst Memorial Hospital relocated three miles south of the location where the hospital had stood for the past 85 years. The move created the opportunity for the food and nutrition department to rebrand its program, which is highlighted by the Wildflower Café. The wildflower concept was selected because it fit with the hospital’s overall design, which was built in the Prairie School style that was most notably used by Frank Lloyd Wright, who lived in Oak Park, Illinois.

The Café is set up in stations, including a deli bar, salad bar, wok station, grill, brick oven—where pizzas, calzones and breads are baked—and a carvery station for meats and other comfort foods. The café also offers grab-and-go items. Display cooking is used at the wok station, at the carvery, in the grill area and at the deli/salad bar area where Sizzling Salads are featured as a special every day. The foodservice department also changed from a traditional trayline to room service. The foodservice production kitchen is located on the ground floor below the first floor retail foodservice and dining room. A dedicated elevator links the two spaces. The kitchen produces meals for 250 patients using room service methodology. The retail cafeteria serves 850-1,000 customers at lunch. The retail space includes a finishing kitchen to support production for the remote space.

Scope of work included planning and programming for the patient service, non-patient services and food production systems. Services included; schematic design, equipment selection, design development documents including MEP connection information; architectural, engineering and interior design coordination; complete equipment contract documents; bid review and construction administration.