St. Elizabeth Hospital

In the midst of a multiyear modernization and renovation plan which included a $95 million, five-story patient tower, St. Elizabeth needed to upgrade its aging cafeteria and patient foodservice. The initial concept looked to the Whole Foods display techniques and high nutritional content for providing fresh, healthy food in an atmosphere that promoted the health and well-being of those using the cafeteria. In addition to improving the nutritional value and appeal of foods, they also wanted to support farm-to-table suppliers in the area.

The design called for a room-service patient kitchen and a retail dining space on the ground floor of this newly built tower. The daunting challenge was how to work around a 12 ft-wide corridor connecting the patient bed tower with a surgery center in an existing building that extended straight through the center of the servery ceiling.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
Since nothing tall could be placed underneath the hanging walkway, designers met the challenge by placing three display-cooking stations along an outer wall of the retail dining space. Branded as Marketplace, the servery includes Grill, Pizza, and Chef’s Table display cooking stations featuring a rotating menu and ethnic specialties; other stations such as Soup & Salad, Deli, Grab & Go, and Coffee along with a self-service, flavor-infused water station were added. Designers achieved better traffic flow with a separate entrance to reduce confusion, and they intentionally combined the cashier station and coffee bar/deli to maximize staffing depending on the volume of customers.

For better traffic flow, the main kitchen design separated delivery arrivals and a robust composting program out of the mainstream on the lower level. Layout efficiencies included positioning food production stations directly across from patient tray assembly allowing staff to move easily between those stations.